Romantically Speaking
by kpgleek13
Summary: AU. Brittany Pierce who has grown up with her father being a famous radio DJ, becomes one herself. She hosts a show, "Romantically Speaking" as the resident relationship expert, with listeners enamored by her seemingly perfect girlfriend. However, an unexpected twist pits her with bestfriend, Santana Lopez, in an inescapable situation. Based on HeMo's movie. Brittana style.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! I hope you all don't mind me writing another story before I go through with the Laws of Attraction sequel. I promise that I'll finish this together with Chasing Pavements before you know it.**

 **So, this story is adapted from HeMo's movie of the same title but will eventually become an original story. Just finished watching it and can't help but write it Brittana style as it should be. I'll use minimal parts of the movie's dialogue and the general premise of the story but basically, I'm putting my own spin on stuff.**

 **I DO NOT OWN GLEE OR ANY/SOME OF THE CHARACTERS AND THE MOVIE. NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 _"Let me tell you a little something that I've learned over the years, Demi. No matter how much effort and time you've put into making a team better, you should always remember that your happiness is up to you." Rich Pierce says with a smile. "Alright. We gotta take a break with some top of the morning news. I'll be back in a while. Once again, this is Rich Pierce on Dalton Radio."_

 _"And... we're out!" Will Schuester, Dalton Radio's radio engineer exclaims from the other side of the glass._

 _"Wow. That was awesome, dad!" A young Brittany Pierce, not more than 14 years of age, happily quips beside her father._

 _"Aww... Thank you, sweetheart. But don't you think that's a little biased coming from my beautiful daughter?"_

 _Brittany giggles before engulfing her father with a tight hug. "Just because I'm your daughter doesn't mean that I can't be your fan too."_

 _Rich chuckles and gives the blonde girl a kiss on the cheek. "My number one fan perhaps."_

 _Rich motions to stand up as Will enters the radio booth where they're settled. "The ratings are in for this quarter and you're at the top again!"_

 _Brittany grins excitedly. "You won?"_

 _"Well, it's not exactly a contest." The older Pierce mutters nonchalantly._

 _"Don't listen to your father, Brittany. Radio is a contest and your father is a winner." Will chimes in before getting nudged by Rich on the arm._

 _"I'm gonna be just like you, dad."_

 _Rich chuckles. "We'll talk about this later, honey." He turns to Will and discuss about the ratings as they walk towards Will's table._

 _The young Brittany Pierce looks at her father in awe and pride through the glass separating them. "I'm gonna be just like you, dad." She whispers to herself again and approaches the corner where her father was situated just a minute ago. She settles herself on the chair and triggers something that puts them "On Air' as specified by the red light emanating on the side._

 _"This is Brittany Pierce reporting to you live..."_

* * *

 **10 years later**

"Brittany, why can't I find someone as special as your Jamie? There are millions of men in New York and I can't seem to get a grasp on one. Maybe I should just turn gay like you." A caller exclaims in frustration while Brittany Pierce, the host of the show, listens intently with a smile. "You know what you should do? You should bring her on your show!"

'I-I'll ask her about it." Brittany awkwardly chuckles while Will Schuester, a bit older now, looks at her from the other side with a worried glance.

"Maybe the both of you could take some calls and give us straight gals some much needed advice with what we're doing wrong. We all know you're our relationship expert, Brittany. But I'd like to hear it from your other half."

"Okay. Well, thank you so much for the call but that's all the time we have for today." Brittany utters over the mic. Suddenly, Rory the intern hurries towards her side which made the blonde jump for a little bit. He turns to Brittany and motions for her to read an announcement written on the paper he's holding.

Brittany nods and closes in on the mic again before giving Rory a curious look which was returned with a shy smile.

"And I've just been reminded about our special live broadcast tomorrow, 2pm at the Red Rooster Grand Hotel downtown where you'll get to meet me and ask questions live on the air. Hope to see you all there!" The blonde says and pauses for a second. "In the meantime, next on Dalton Radio, 'Straight Talk with Dani' so stay tuned for that one. Thank you again for listening, this has been Romantically Speaking with Brittany Pierce and as my father used to say, your happiness is up to you!" She finishes with a smile.

"And… we're out!" Will blurts out and stands up as he removes his headphones. "Great show, kid."

"Thanks, Will." Brittany mutters under her breath as she gathers her stuff.

After a while, she leaves the radio booth and approaches Will by his table. "I didn't think that last caller was going to give up."

Will chuckles. "Well, you're a relationship expert, kiddo. Can't blame your listeners on wanting to know how you do it."

"I'm here! I'm here!" A brunette, diva-looking woman wearing dark shades enters through the door just as Brittany was about to say something to Will. "Rory, where's my rewrite?" She huffs as Will and Brittany looks on awkwardly beside her.

"U-uh… I-I have it right here." Rory stutters.

"And my coffee?" Dani adds in frustration as the intern hurriedly fetches her a cup of joe.

"Dani." Brittany says with a genuine smile towards the woman beside her.

The brunette looks up from her phone and forces a grin. "Brittany! Heard you had a good show this morning. Charming as always." She says with the last bit said in a bitter tone.

"Thank you." The blonde replies while Will hides a chuckle beside her. "Have a good show!" Brittany says as she walks away, sighing at the encounter.

Dani rolls her eyes as soon as the blonde turns around. "Of course."

"Bye, kiddo." Will quips

Brittany turns around one last time before leaving the room. "Bye, Will!"

As soon as she's out the door, Brittany mindlessly walks through the halls of Dalton Radio, smiling at a few people every now and then. She's almost by the exit when she stumbles upon the framed posters of the radio station's radio personalities, including her own. A small smile creeps upon her face as soon as she sees her father's poster. The blonde stops in front of it and fixes it a little to the right as she looks on proudly, grinning to herself.

"He was a legend. Your dad." Blaine Anderson, the station's manager, declares from the door of his office. Brittany looks at him for a second before turning back to the framed picture with a wide grin. "It was the end of an era." He adds.

"He was the best." Brittany says proudly.

Blaine nods. "We could say the same for you, Britt."

"Aww... Thanks, Blaine."

"Yeah, I listened to your show today and it was good."

Brittany's smile falters instantly at the tone. "But?"

Blaine holds his hands up in defense. "No buts. Just uhmm.. Maybe?"

"Come on, Blaine. We're good friends. Maybe what?"

"Tomorrow's the live broadcast at the Grand. Why don't you bring Jamie? You know.. Introduce her to the audience. Get some buzz happening." Blaine pauses and Brittany bites her lip. "Look, Britt. Station's numbers are down across the border, we need this. And if I'm being completely honest, you need this too. Just think about it." He adds and the blonde nods dejectedly.

Blaine gives her a sympathetic smile. "Alright then. I'm having lunch with the hubby. Wanna come with?"

Brittany shakes her head and musters up a tight lipped smile. Blaine nods and bids her goodbye as he walks away. The blonde stands still for a few seconds before sighing deeply again and turning her attention to Rich Pierce's framed poster. She leaves the building after a minute or two.

* * *

"It's non-negotiable. I have to bring Jamie." Brittany frustratingly declares while setting up the plates for Quinn's birthday dinner at the Puckerman residence. The four of them, including Brittany's best friend, Santana, had been best friends since high school.

"Well, maybe if you play your cards right, you and Jamie could become the Ellen and Portia of local radio." A pregnant Quinn jokingly utters while carrying a bowl of mashed potato to the table.

"What if she says no? I mean, Blaine made it clear that he wants me to bring Jamie tomorrow. I'm being coerced here, Quinn. You're my lawyer, what do I do?"

Quinn laughs. "Britt, first, I'm on maternity leave. And two, you gotta stop worrying about this. Jamie will agree to it. Maybe do some sweet talking. Actually, don't talk just pounce on her or something."

"Did I hear something about pouncing?" Puck enters the dining room with a smirk on his face.

"Your wife needs the D. She's been practically inserting innuendos all throughout our 2 minute conversation." Brittany jests.

"Mommy, what's the 'D'?" Beth, Quinn and Puck's daughter asks curiously. The three of them look at each other and Quinn just nudges Brittany.

"It's nothing, sweetie." Quinn tells the kid.

"Anyway, I hope you're right. I'll talk to her later about it." Brittany quips.

"My wife is always right. I know because she tells me so. Everyday." Puck chimes in as he lifts up Beth into his arms and takes a bite of an apple.

"Well, Britt here is finally introducing Jamie to her audience at the show tomorrow." Quinn says.

" _Your_ Jamie?" Puck exclaims with a scrunched up face.

Brittany looks at him curiously. "What's so surprising about that?" Quinn slaps Puck on the arm before walking back to the kitchen.

"Aunt Jamie isn't funny!" Beth declares and Quinn snickers from the kitchen.

"Nothing. I just—It's just that the couple of times I've hung out with her, she never really struck me as the girl who likes to talk with other human beings. She's a little too uptight for my taste." Puck replies.

"Obviously. So she's gonna do whatever she can to make our Brittany here happy." Quinn interjects.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Puck adds as he walks towards their bedroom carrying Beth. Brittany just looks down, sighing. Afraid that Puck may be right.

The door suddenly opens and a made up Santana, wearing a blue dress that stops just above her knees walks in, carrying a bouquet of flowers and looking down at her phone on one hand.

"Oh my god. I cannot believe this girl I've gone on a date once. She's been relentlessly calling and texting me saying that we're meant to be together! I mean, my charms are to die for and the sex is unbelievable but I don't like girls potentially showing up at my door with a U-Haul! Seriously, this is fucked up. I almost went all Lima Heights on her awhile ago!" Santana rambles on as the others sigh and roll their eyes.

"Language!" Puck screams from somewhere in the apartment.

"Alright. What are you guys talking about?" The brunette asks upon looking up and approaching them at the table.

"Brittany's show tomorrow." Quinn replies.

"Oh yeah. I cleared my whole schedule for the afternoon tomorrow." Santana quips as she gives all of them a kiss on the cheek.

"We're all so excited that my hubby decided to take the day off. We'll be at the front row cheering you on, Britt."

"Gosh, you guys are the best." Brittany says and pulls Quinn closer for a hug.

"Alright. Enough drama. I'm hungry. Puckerman, let's eat! Where's my favorite kid?" The brunette announces as she goes towards the couple's bedroom.

"Oh!" Quinn shouts.

"Oh." Brittany mumbles with widening eyes.

Santana and Puck suddenly come rushing down to the dining table worriedly.

"Oh my god, is it time?!" Puck shouts. "Santana, get the bag! I'll get the keys! Stay here, babe. We got you." Santana just shakes her head, panicking all of a sudden.

"No! I'm fine, I'm fine. I.. I just had a sudden craving for chocolate pudding." The three of them breathe a sigh of relief.

"Oh, that's normal." Brittany says.

Quinn looks at her with a big grin. "On spinach."

A sudden silence takes over for a few seconds before they all bursts into a fit laughter and the couple goes to the kitchen to get some.

"Fuck, Quinn. Don't let me sit near you while you eat that stuff." Santana huffs, looking disgusted.

"San.." Brittany trails off with her arms crossed and giving Santana a look.

The brunette shrugs and gives a fake grin. "I know, I've been MIA for a week. So, just admit that you missed me, B." Santana smirks. "Now, where do I put these?" She hands the flowers to Brittany who takes it while rolling her eyes.

Brittany shakes her head and walks towards the couch where she places the flowers in an empty vase by the coffee table. "So, no date tonight?"

"Nope. Vanessa bailed on me." Santana sighs.

"I thought you broke up with her?"

"Yeah, this is a different Vanessa." Santana mutters nonchalantly.

"Oh. Right. The one that you brought to Puck's birthday party?" Brittany replies as she takes her phone out to see that there's still no message nor call from Jamie and before she can go hide it again, Santana grabs it from her hand, snooping in the process as the brunette nods. "Wait, San. I thought you broke up with her? I'm confused."

"Yep. I broke up with the both of them, actually." Santana smirks with her attention still on Brittany's phone, scrolling through the girl's messages as if it's the most normal thing in the world while Brittany, mostly used to this, just ignores it but gives the girl a slap on the arm for such a comment.

"I know you're terminally emotionally unavailable, San. But you gotta stop playing with these girls' hearts."

"It's not my fault they can't resist getting up on this." The brunette quips and gets a look from the blonde beside her. "Alright. I actually need your help. There's this major work thing slash party in a few weeks and I need a date."

"This has been the nth time you've asked me to go with you. I'd rather feed the ducks that endure those boring people." Brittany raises an eyebrow at her.

"Come on, babe. I know you have love for me inside that sexy and hot body of yours. And I need someone as awesome as you to keep me from falling asleep. Please?" Santana pouts.

They maintain eye contact for a few seconds before the blonde admits defeat. "I will if you stop with the sweet talk. Jamie went on this jealous rage the last time you got on your flirt with me." Brittany sighs dejectedly and Santana happily hugs her.

"Oh, come on. We've been like this from the start of time, B. I've known you for almost all my life. Heck, we watched Sesame Street together! Your girlfriend really needs to chill the fuck out." Santana rolls her eyes. "Anyway, where is the She-Hulk and her famous chocolate torte?"

"Don't call her that." The blonde huffs. "But yeah, I should probably call her."

Brittany forcefully grabs her phone from Santana's hand while the brunette just shrugs. Brittany sighs at her best friend's antics then dials Jamie's number only for it to go directly to voicemail. Her eyebrows scrunch in confusion for a moment before talking. 'H-Hi babe. It's me. Just wondering where you were. Dinner's almost ready so hurry, everybody's waiting for your chocolate torte." Brittany says awkwardly. "Okay. See you soon." She adds before hanging up.

"So, where's the green Avenger?" Santana asks.

"She's probably parking." Brittany replies in frustration.

"Dinner's ready!" Quinn exclaims and everyone gathers to the dining table.

"Aunt Santana, what's the 'D'?" Beth smiles.

The four them give each other a surprised look. Santana kneels and levels with the 5 year old Beth.

"The 'D' is a-a.. Dinosaur, sweetie."

Beth suddenly turns her attention to Quinn, looking confused. "Why would you want a dinosaur, mommy? Dinosaurs are scary and big."

Puck and Santana chuckles at the corner while Quinn gives them a dirty look.

"Because they're f-fun?" She replies and that seemed to satisfy the kid's curiosity.

"Damn right." Puck mumbles under his breath as Santana and he share a subtle high five while laughing some more.

* * *

"It's a nice night." Santana mentions as Brittany and her stand outside of the Puckerman's apartment complex after they all called it a night.

"Uh-huh." Brittany absent-mindedly replies as she looks down sadly.

"Look, Britt. Maybe Jamie just forgot to call or could be that she got caught up at work."

"And turned her phone off?" Brittany snaps at Santana.

The brunette shrugs and just bites her lip. "Maybe she turned into the She-Hulk and is saving the Upper East Side right now?"

Brittany finally chuckles and pulls Santana for a hug. "Maybe, San. Thank you and I'm sorry for snapping at you." They pull apart and laugh for a bit. "You're the best best friend ever. What would I do without you?"

"You'd probably die, B."

"I might, actually." They both chuckle.

"You know, I've never noticed how blue your eyes really are." Santana mutters as she looks deeply into Brittany's eyes. It must have been a minute or two before they realized that they're both staring intently at each other and their faces are only a couple of inches apart.

"U-Uh.. Yeah. Britt, I gotta go but call me if you need anything, okay?"

"I will. Goodnight, San." Brittany gives Santana a light kiss on the cheek before walking towards the other side while Santana just stares at her, still standing at her spot. The brunette smiles once more before walking the opposite direction.

As soon as Brittany crossed the other side of the road, she decided to call Jamie again only to be disappointed once more. The blonde shakes her head as she walks a few more steps until she noticed something, making her stop in her tracks. She turns around and travels a few steps back before stopping in front of a car. Brittany peeks through the passenger window to see a beautiful, brown-haired girl who looks like she's contemplating life and death at the driver's seat.

"Jamie." Brittany speaks which surprised the girl inside the car, making her jump.

"Hi." Jamie says nervously.

"What are you doing here? We waited over an hour for you up there."

"I- I brought some torte." Jamie fake grins while showing the dessert. Brittany rolls her eyes and opens the car door then settles herself on the passenger seat.

"I don't care about a stupid torte, Jamie. I wanna know why you're sitting in a car and not having dinner with us."

"Well, that's the thing." Jamie sighs and looks at Brittany nervously. "This isn't my torte."

"What are you talking about?!"

"You know how you always tell people on the radio that I make this great chocolate torte from scratch?"

"Okay? Then what does that have to do with—"

"I didn't make the torte." Jamie mutters while biting her lip. Brittany stares at her in disbelief. "I've never made a torte in my life."

* * *

"Never?" Santana asks in exasperation over the phone.

"Never!" Brittany literally cries out while wiping away the tears and eating the chocolate torte on her bed, an hour after stumbling upon Jamie sitting in the car.

"What about that one from your birthday?"

"Especially not that one!"

"I don't understand why she had to lie about it."

"Well, she said that—she said that.."

* * *

"When you talk about me like that on the radio, you make me sound like I'm Wonder Woman. A great swimmer, amazing chef, fantastic singer—"

"Okay. Maybe I exaggerated a little bit but I only did that because I love you." Brittany interjects.

"You love the idea of me, Britt." Jamie sighs. "You've created this idea that I'm the perfect woman for you and sooner or later, I'm gonna let you down. I just think that we could deal with this now than later."

* * *

"And then she broke up with me!" Brittany exclaims as she tears up again.

"Oh no. I'm sorry, B." Santana says comfortingly on the other line. "Who knows maybe you guys will get back together."

"Well, she leaves for South Africa tomorrow morning. She'll be staying for 12 months at Johannesburg!"

"And no break up sex? Oh my god, that's horrible!"

"Santana!"

Santana sighs. "Well, I'm almost done with some work stuff. How about I come over and grab you some Chinese takeout from your favorite place and pick up those famous 'Break-up Dumplings' along the way?"

Brittany cracks a little smile. "Oh. T-Thank you." She sighs deeply in between the tears. "But I'm okay. I have to prep for tomorrow's show anyway. I don't know what I'm gonna tell Blaine tomorrow. I'll probably make up something. You'll be there tomorrow, right?"

"Of course, I'll meet you backstage before showtime." Santana tells Brittany over the receiver which seemed to calm the blonde down a little. "You know that I'm just a phone call away, babe."

"Like always." She smiles through the receiver.

"Goodnight, Britt. I love you, you know that right? And that I'm still coming over in a little while to cuddle with you even if you're already asleep?"

"I know, San. I love you too. Goodnight." Brittany sighs and throws her phone on the bed upon hanging up. She turns her head to the right only to see her now ex-girlfriend's face beside her own in a picture, looking all lovey-dovey by the bedside table. The blonde stares at it for a moment before getting the courage to scoot and angrily dump the framed picture down the trash bin.

* * *

"You can do this, Britt. You can do this." Brittany whispers to herself as she reapplies a bit more makeup to hide her tear-stained face and baggy eyes.

After a couple of minutes, they arrive at the Red Rooster Grand Hotel. She looks at herself in the mirror one last time before the door is being opened by her driver.

"Showtime, Miss Pierce."

"Thanks, Dave." She replies while getting off of the car. The blonde enters the hotel while trying to remind herself not to faint. Breathing deeply every now and then.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Blaine exclaims as soon as he saw Brittany.

"I was just—"

"Let's go! Let's go!" He tells her while leading her through the halls. "The place is filled up already and we've got a lot of fans inside. Now, before airtime, I'll go on. Then I'll introduce you, open the curtains and—Wait. Where's Jamie?"

Brittany sighs deeply before replying. "Well, She's—

"What does she look like? Maybe I'll just catch her—"

"No. Look, maybe if you let me explain something—"

Suddenly, Rory comes up to them all panicky. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. But sir, the technical department is having problems with the thing?"

Blaine clicks his tongue. "Oh no. We can't be having problems right now. We're going live in a few minutes."

"But-" Brittany tries to get Blaine's attention.

"Look, Britt. You'll be fine up there, alright? I'll just catch you on the flip side. Goodluck!" Blaine shouts as he walks away with Rory while Brittany frustratingly stands on her spot wondering how she'll get a hold of the situation.

* * *

"You look like you're about to faint." Santana quips upon seeing Brittany peek behind the curtains of the stage, looking like she's about to have a panic attack.

"Oh, you made it!" Brittany jumps a little in surprise. She also subtly checks out Santana who's wearing that favorite red dress she just loves on her. In her own words, that dress can get a two-syllable "Damn" any day, which has happened countless times when they hang out. Twice from Brittany herself but Santana doesn't have to know that.

"Of course, like I'd miss my best friend's first live stage appearance!'

"San, all those people out there.. Watching me. Maybe I could do a stage faint or something so I don't have to deal with this."

Santana walks closer towards her. "Hey, you're gonna be fine, Britt." She smiles. "Just close your eyes and pretend you're at the studio." Brittany takes three deep breaths together with Santana in which she relaxes after.

"Good thing I brought these." Santana smirks while holding up a paper bag.

"Break-up dumplings!" Brittany exclaims with a wide grin.

 _"Good afternoon everyone! I'd like to welcome you all here today. I'm Blaine Anderson, Dalton Radio's Station Manager.."_ Blaine's voice resonates in the huge function room.

"It might be a little cold by now but I'm sure it's still edible. Plus, we could have some more delivered later when we binge-watch on your favorite Disney movies at your place." Santana smirks.

"You are the best!" Brittany tells her as she pulls Santana closer for a tight hug.

 _"Now, without further adue, we proudly present to you Dalton Radio's gem and host of 'Romantically Speaking', Brittany Pierce!"_

Suddenly, the red curtain opens up to reveal both girls hugging each other on stage for the whole room to see.

The thunderous clapping of the audience pulls them out of their trance and Brittany lets go of Santana awkwardly as they both face everyone while on stage. Quinn and Puck, who are seated among the audience, looks confused and with wide eyes at the scene before them. Even Will looks genuinely lost with what's happening.

 _"Wow! And as a special bonus surprise, everyone always talks about her but now you'll actually get to meet her as she supports our host today, her perfect girlfriend, Jamie!"_ Blaine exclaims and everyone claps louder this time.

Santana and Brittany look at each other in surprise. The brunette looks at Blaine with wide eyes from the other side. "Oh. No. No, no, no!" She shouts with her hands up in defense but the loud applause only makes it seem like a whisper that only a dog can hear.

Both girls look at each other in shock one last time.

"Shit." They mumble in unison.

* * *

 **Follow me on tumblr under kpgleek13 for updates, news, and questions :)**

 **Please review and lemme know how I'm handling this story as I'm making it on the fly while loosely following the movie! Thank you for reading!**

 ***I have this idea of adapting The Prince & Me as well but of course, Brittana style! I wanna finish Chasing Pavements and this one first though :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Tell me if I'm updating too fast for all of you so I can slow down. LOL. As if ;)**

 **To the guest reviewer who gave that amazing advice about not following the movie and dialogue too closely, thank you so much! This is for you! :)**

 **I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. ENJOY!**

* * *

"Fuck. What do we do?" Santana whispers in Brittany's ear, both girls panicking as the crowd cheers for them.

"Jamie, why don't you take a seat and enjoy the show with us?" Blaine exclaims.

Quinn and Puck gaze on with wide eyes, wondering what the hell is happening in front of them. "That is _not_ Jamie." Quinn mutters.

"'Jamie'?" Will whispers to himself at the technical booth, confused as well.

"I don't know. Just keep cool and go along with it." Brittany replies as Santana is being led away to a nearby table, faking a grin and looking like a deer caught in headlights. The women surrounding the brunette at the table are like zombies looking at her with hungry eyes.

Brittany and Santana both give each other a look of panic as the blonde takes her place by the stage. She settles on her seat and pulls the mic closer to her. "Hi everybody! Listen, there's actually been a mistake—"

"Brittany, you're on in five, four, three…" Will cuts Brittany off and the blonde glances again at Santana with a look that could only mean that she'll deal with it later while her best friend just bites her lip in response. Will motions for her to start.

Brittany takes a deep breath as the announcer introduces her while the audience cheers. "Good afternoon, everyone! As always, I would like to thank each and everyone of you here right now and those at their homes who are listening to the live broadcast of Romantically Speaking with me, Brittany Pierce here on Dalton Radio from the glamorous ballroom of the Red Rooster Grand Hotel…"

As Brittany goes on about with her show's introduction, Santana is having the time of her life sitting among the audience. _Yeah, right._ Actually, it's pretty fucking awkward and she's never been uncomfortable like this. _Ever._ Almost everyone's eyes are on her, just ogling and checking her out. Curious as to who this "perfect girl" is.

Well, she thinks that this is probably a dream since more than half of these women are smoking but not in this way when she feels like covering herself with a hundred duvets. The people among her table are even stealing a picture of her, this freaking woman sitting beside her even pulls her for a selfie while the rest are just staring like hawks. There's really nothing for her to do but awkwardly smile back.

"Ladies, you're missing the show. You should pay attention to Brittany." The brunette gestures towards Brittany.

The ladies in her table actually giggles at her statement. "Oh, we can always listen and see Brittany anytime. It's not everyday we get to interact with someone as perfect as you, Jamie." A skinny girl comments.

"S-So, you're all gay?"

"Not really. But we won't mind if it's you we're talking about."

Santana fake grins. "Y-Yeah. U-Uh.. You see, there's been a mix-up. I'm not-"

"Perfect? Oh, please! You so are!" Another woman exclaims and the rest of the table giggle in agreement.

Santana closes her eyes for a second before sighing deeply. "Fucking perfect. I'm gonna fucking kill that damn Warbler." She mumbles under her breath through gritted teeth.

"Now, let's take some questions from our live audience. Anyone who has one that maybe I could help with?" Brittany declares over the speakers.

A woman walks over to the designated mic in the aisle. "Hi, Brittany. I love your show!"

"Why, thank you! What can I help you with?"

"Well, I was wondering if maybe you could tell us something about how Jamie helps you get through a rough day."

Brittany and Santana immediately shares a panic stricken look from afar.

"Y-Yeah. How does she- uh.. help m-me?" Brittany stutters and awkwardly chuckles before clearing her throat. "Well, how does she help me?" She jests and everyone chuckles.

"Could you give us a specific answer about it?" The woman speaks up again.

The blonde raises both eyebrows at Santana, inquiring how she'll answer the question. In a stroke of genius, Santana raises the paper bag containing the break up dumplings with a grin and Brittany instantly catches on.

"Well, yesterday I was really having a bad day. 'Jamie' comes over and surprises me with my favorite ice cream and dumplings while we talked about just anything that came to mind until I fell asleep in the wee hours of the morning." Brittany grins and glances at Santana who gives her a wink. The audience breaks out into a bunch of "oohs" and "awws" as they look at both women in awe.

Santana acts all surprised and semi-brags at the same time while holding out the paper bag for everyone to see. Brittany snorts and shakes her head at the brunette's antics, clearly enjoying the attention all of these women are giving her.

"Ice cream and dumplings? That's so sensible and very sweet! Thank you, Brittany." The woman says and the blonde thanks her back. At the corner table, Quinn and Puck share a quizzical look. Bordering shock and amusement at the radio host's statement.

Suddenly, Will catches Brittany's attention and tells her to wrap it up. The blonde nods and inches closer to the mic again.

"And that's all the time we have today. It's been an absolute blast to spend this afternoon with my wonderful fans. I want to thank each and everyone of you for the support and sharing your stories with me." Brittany pauses and barely managed to stifle a laugh when she sees Santana happily signing autographs for the women at her table, just having the time of her life. She shakes it off and smiles at the audience. "Straight talk with Dani is coming up next on Dalton Radio. This is Brittany Pierce saying goodbye for now and as my father used to say.." The blonde gestures for the audience to finish her sentence and everyone gladly obliges.

"Your happiness is up to you!" Everyone cries out in unison as they all cheered on.

"And.. we're out!" Will shout from the corner. As soon as he calls it out, Rory speaks up.

"So, that chick wasn't really Jamie?"

Will rolls his eyes. "Look kid, it's not really our business. So, just zip it." He mutters and proceeds to walk away, leaving a confused Rory behind.

Santana turns her head to see Brittany raising both eyebrows again and motions to the side for a little talk. The brunette nods as the radio host stands up. Upon getting off the stage, she's instantly approached by fans who are asking for pictures and autographs. She obliges for the first few minutes until Santana reaches her spot in which she politely excuses herself and leaves their company. Brittany grabs Santana's hand and drags her to the side with no one around.

They were immediately approached at the same time by Quinn and Puck who instantly gives them both a curious look.

"What the hell was that?" Quinn whispers, flabbergasted.

"Look, Q. It was all a misunderstanding-" Brittany tries to explain but is cut by Blaine approaching them.

"That was amazing, Britt!"

"Blaine! We have to discuss about something. You see-"

"Damn right we do! We haven't gotten the ratings yet but based on the hundreds of phone calls back at the station, Jamie's surprise appearance was an absolute hit!"

The four best friends share a look of confusion. Because seriously, this is getting out of hand.

"Just imagine the opportunities and appearances we can book for the both of you! Jamie, you're a gem!" Blaine adds.

Quinn raises an eyebrow and looks at Santana in disbelief. "'Jamie'?"

Santana and Brittany instantly turns their attention back at Quinn and glares hard at her. "I have a pretty nice name, huh?" The brunette comments with a scowl directed at Quinn.

Puck clears his throat. "Yeah. Well, we're gonna leave the three of you to talk about whatever it is that you people should discuss. Good show, Britt. And Jamie," Puck emphasizes the name a little too much. "congratulations?" He adds and Quinn protests beside him.

"W-wait. We can't let-'

"Honey, we have to get to that thing that needs to be taken care of with that other thing? I'm sure Brittany can hitch a ride with her girlfriend. Right, Jamie?" Puck interjects as Quinn is about to protest yet again.

"B-But-"

"Yeah. Of course. What's the use of that sports car, right honey?" Santana cuts Brittany as she pulls her closer and gives out a fake grin.

"Wait, but you don't have a- And Britt can't-"

"See you later, Jamie!" Puck adds while giving Santana a look before he forces Quinn to walk away from the scene.

"Congratulations again you guys, you two were a hit! We hope to see more of you here, Jamie. We have that upcoming out of town show in two weeks and we'd love for you to come. Don't be a stranger, alright?" Blaine states while an uneasy Santana awkwardly nods.

Santana and Brittany hold out their fake grins as they watch him walk away, when he was almost gone from sight, they give each other a look.

"We need to talk." Both women utters almost at the exact same time before leaving.

* * *

"Oh my god!" Brittany blurts out upon opening the back door of the hotel's ballroom with Santana. "I just lied to everyone! I lied to my fans, my boss, everyone!" She mutters just enough for her best friend to hear when a few of her fans catch her walking and takes a few pictures of them. Once again, they act as a couple until they were a few feet away from everyone to see.

"But it's okay. That was actually pretty awesome." Santana tells the blonde which earns her a glare.

"What do you mean, San? Everyone thinks that you're Jamie."

"Yeah but they won't know the fucking difference." Brittany sighs deeply at her remark while the brunette just shrugs. They start to walk home and settle in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"Oh god! What are we gonna do, San? Argh! Everybody thinks you're Jamie now! I should've said something from the very start." Brittany pouts.

"Hey babe, it's not your fault okay? Gay Fucking Blaine was the one who started it! We just saved our faces back there and everybody loved us. Relax a little. It's not even that big of a deal."

"It is to me, San." Brittany huffs and stops in her tracks to glare at Santana. She takes a deep breath before they start to walk the streets of New York again. "My dad was famous for his honesty. People respected him so much because of it and I feel like I'm cheating on that aspect with that lie we did back there."

Santana sighs and pulls Brittany closer by the waist as they walk. "Look, Britt. For the record, I kinda enjoyed playing Jamie back at the hotel. Who knew women would just fall on my feet like that? Seriously. I have more than a dozen numbers of those women right now."

Brittany finally smiles and chuckles at Santana's words. "I bet you dreamt about that once upon a time."

"Every night, actually." The brunette jests and they share a laugh. They walk the next few blocks linking pinkies in silence.

It was only when they reach Brittany's complex that Santana speaks up again. "Here's the thing, Britt. You created the perfect dream partner on the radio and you really can't blame your listeners for wanting even a little bit of that magic. Please don't stress too much about it."

Brittany breathes deeply. "I'll do an announcement tomorrow and tell everyone exactly what happened."

"W-What? Britt, you don't have to do that right now. Just let it pass and the hype would die down on its own. Or maybe when I've slept with some of the women."

"You're not really helping, San." The blonde says exasperatedly. "I'll just call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Don't forget that work thing that you agreed to accompany me with in a few weeks." Santana utters and the blonde rolls her eyes. Santana chuckles as she watches Brittany climb the few steps to her apartment's front door before walking away.

* * *

Brittany arrives at work the following morning looking conflicted and surprised when Rory immediately hands her a cup of coffee upon entering through the door.

"Brittany!" Will shouts and Brittany smiles at the familiar face. "We just got the overnight ratings and yesterday was a hit! We haven't had ratings that high since I can remember. Congratulations!"

Brittany nods. "Well, uh.. That's great." She says nonchalantly which confuses Rory and Will for a bit. The blonde looks around her before dragging Will into a corner, out of everyone's earshot. "Look Will, we both know that wasn't Jamie yesterday. That was-"

"Santana." Will replies and earns a curious look from Brittany. "Look Brittany, I've known you since you were a kid. You and Santana go way back, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of you without her in it. Heck, your dad even thought you girls were together."

Brittany chuckles at the memory then looks down for a second. "It's just.. Jamie broke up with me the other night. And everything started from a misunderstanding yesterday then stuff just went out of hand from there."

Will nods. "Okay. What's your plan now? What about Santana?"

"I'll make an announcement later and tell them—"

"No!" Will exclaims and some people who are passing by gives them a look.

"What do you mean?" Brittany leans closer and crosses her arms. Will was just about to say something when Blaine calls for the both of them in his office. They nod and upon entering, Brittany sees a handsome middle-aged man waiting for them.

"Brittany, Will, I believe you both know Burt Hummel, my father-in-law."

"Mr. Hummel!" Brittany grins upon seeing the familiar man and holds out her hand. Burt returns the smile and shakes the girl's hand.

"Brittany, it's nice to see you. Last time I saw you, you were sitting at your father's lap in the studio during a broadcast. Look at you now, you've grown into such a beautiful young lady!" Burt utters which makes the girl blush.

"Will, so nice to see you again, old friend. You don't age! When was the last time we saw each other?" He adds as he shakes Will's hand.

"I think it was when you were just starting up your company."

"And now, Hummel Communications Group is one of the largest radio interests in the country." Blaine interjects.

Burt chuckles. "I wouldn't go that far, son. I just try to manage and maintain at least 218 stations. It's all a team effort with my wife, Carole."

Suddenly, a sophisticated woman enters the room excitedly. "Is this Brittany Pierce?" Brittany turns her head and grins.

"Speaking of her, this is my wife and business partner, Carole. I don't make a move without her." Burt says quickly. Brittany genuinely looks surprised at being pinpointed by the woman.

"I am such a big fan of your show! I listen to it religiously. We both do, actually." Carole declares as Brittany chuckles.

"My wife and I agreed that your show should benefit from a wider audience." Burt says and Brittany's eyes widen at the prospect of hearing that.

"Dad and Mom here agreed that the best way for you to do that is through a syndication." Blaine quips.

"M-My show?" The blonde blurts out with wide eyes.

"Yes, dear. Burt and I thought that we'd roll out Romantically Speaking gradually through a few cities first and if the ratings meet the criteria then we'll make sure the show goes national!" Carole utters excitedly.

"Oh my god! That's amazing!"

"But it's not a done deal yet." Burt cuts the excitement and gives his wife a gentle look amidst her protest. "There's another show that we previously considered for the same syndication, you see."

Will rolls his eyes. "Right. _That_ show."

"Burt, Carole!" Dani shouts upon entering the room. She proceeds to give the couple a proper greeting by giving them a light kiss on the cheek, not realizing how awkward it is for the other party. "It is so nice to see you both again! And that thing you've done with your hair, it's genius!" She adds before taking a place beside Will while sneaking a smirk towards Brittany.

"Anyway, what we were saying was we'd have to make a decision soon about which show gets the syndication. Well, the decision is up to the board as well." Carole smiles. Dani looks at Brittany for a second while flashing a fake grin. "So, we'd like to have you join us this weekend for a little get together at our Upper East Side residence."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Dani chimes in.

"You'll be bringing Jamie, right?" Carole asks Brittany, who's taken aback by the question. The blonde shares a nervous look with Will before turning back to Carole with a forced grin. 'Y-Yeah. Jamie. My girlfriend, Jamie. O-Of course."

The Hummels instantly grin. "When she was at your show yesterday, there was just this—" Carole declares.

"Chemistry! It's unbelievable. You can feel it through the speakers." Burt cuts her and they laugh.

"Right. There was just this magic in your voice yesterday. And I'm sure you'd like the board to see that." Carole smirks and gives her a subtle wink.

They continue to talk a few more minutes to iron out the details and after a while, they escort the Hummels to the lobby and say their goodbyes.

"Burt, Carole, such a pleasure to see you both again. Always a pleasure!" Dani kisses up to the couple.

Carole, on the other hand, pulls over Brittany for a hug. "Goodluck dear. We'll be rooting for you." She adds and leaves the blonde speechless as she watches them leave.

When the Hummels are finally out of sight, she turns to Dani beside her.

"Look Dani, I don't want trouble and let's not kill each other over that syndication. I don't want this to be a weird competition between us. Let's play fair and-"

The other girl leans towards her. "Game on, bitch." Dani tells her before stomping away, leaving a confused Brittany and Will in her tracks.

"'Game on'? What is she, five?" Brittany huffs and Will laughs at the encounter.

After a couple of seconds, he drags Brittany to a secluded corner. "Brittany, you have to call Santana."

"What? Why?"

"You need to convince her to keep this up. This is a syndication we're talking about here."

Brittany shakes her head and crosses her arms. "I can't do that. I'd be deliberately disrespecting my dad if I did that."

Will sighs. "Look kid, this is still all up to you. I'm not saying that you're gonna keep this up forever. What I'm saying is that maybe you could delay telling everyone the truth until after you get the syndication because if we're going to be honest here, you really don't need to lie about anything. It just so happened that you were pitted in an inescapable situation with your best friend that wasn't your fault to start with."

Brittany seems to think about it for a moment. "So, you're saying that I should go for it?"

"Yes! You have the talent, kid. You honestly do! This 'lie' that you're caught up in wasn't even your doing. Might as well go along with it because in the end, your old man up there is going to be pretty proud of you either way. That I'm sure of. Think about it. You could always ask someone's second opinion about if you wish though." Will adds and gives her a sympathetic smile before walking away.

* * *

"You've got to be fucking kidding me, Britt." Santana exclaims over the phone.

Brittany sighs at the other end while walking on her way home. "I know, I know! It all sounds crazy and I'd totally understand if you don't want to. But I promise that it'll just be this one more time and I'll never ask you, ever again. It's just for publicity."

"I love you, Britt. I mean, how can I say no to my best friend? But this, what you're asking me, would be entering dangerous territory."

"I know, San. I promise that it would just be until after I get the syndication contract."

The brunette sighs. "W-Wait. Let me get this straight. You want me to reschedule an incredibly important business meeting where I'll be doing my awesome pitch to a potentially big client that will surely get me a big ass bonus that's enough to sustain me for the next two years and get me a McMansion just so we can go to a party? A party that will be attended by the biggest media names from all over the country and for the second time that will probably be extended to a third, fourth, or even fifth time, to pretend to be the girlfriend that left you and moved halfway around the world just so you can secure a syndication contract for you radio show?" Santana exasperatedly blurts out on the other line.

A few seconds pass by without no one speaking.

"Sounds fun. What do I wear?" The brunette smirks through the receiver.

* * *

 **Lemme know what you think about this chapter!**

 **Like I said, I'll be doing my own spin on stuff which you'll get to see in the next few chapters.**

 **You know what story I'll be updating next ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**School's about to begin again in a few weeks which means slower updates :(**

 **Remember what I said about me putting my own spin on stuff? Well, it starts with this chapter.**

 **I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. ENJOY!**

* * *

"Hello, my dear friend, you look great today! Is that a new hairc—"

"Spill it, Santana. You don't ring the doorbell unless you need something." Quinn huffs with a raised eyebrow upon opening the door for the brunette.

"Fine. I need help with my hair and dress for tonight's 'get together' dinner with Brittany." Santana utters and welcomes herself inside their apartment while carrying her dress and the works.

"White shirt and baggy pants. Is that what you're wearing for later, Lezpez?" Pucks teases upon seeing Santana in their living room.

"Aunt 'Tana!" Beth screams as she runs towards Santana who kneels and catches her just in time for a lift.

"You're getting taller everyday, Bethy! And beautiful too!"

"Not as beautiful as you, Aunt 'Tana!"

"How about that? My daughter has more game than you, Santana." Quinn muses and the brunette rolls her eyes at the pregnant woman as she settles her goddaughter on the floor.

"Of course, honey! How about you help me get ready? Actually, why don't you dress up too?" Beth instantly grins at Santana's words and rushes to her room.

Quinn sighs while shaking her head in disbelief. "Alright. Let's get you started then."

After a while of helping her friend get ready, Quinn's finally done with Santana's hair just as the brunette applies the finishing touches on her make-up.

"How do I look, Beth?" Santana asks while checking herself out in the wall mirror.

"You look like a Disney princess, Aunt 'Tana!"

Santana chuckles heartily and gives the kid a tight hug. "You're the true princess, sweetie!"

Quinn grins at the scene before her just as Puck walks in on them. "You look smokin', Lopez! Damn!"

"Again, for the nth time, I'm gay. You don't even have the slightest of chance, Puckerman." Santana replies with a smirk.

Quinn sighs. "Alright, Beth. Can you go and clean up your bedroom, please? Mommy will have your favorite cookies ready when you're done."

Beth jumps excitedly and gives her Aunt Santana a goodbye kiss on the cheek. "Enjoy your date with Aunt Brittany!" She adds before hastily darting off to her bedroom, leaving the three adults gaping.

"So.." Quinn trails off and raises an eyebrow at Santana. "What is this really all about, Satan?"

The brunette gives her a curious look. "What do you mean, Q? I'm just helping Britt get that syndication, this means a lot to her."

"We're aware of that but what is _this_ really about?" Puck interjects. "This, what you're about to get yourself into, is like a death trap. You're not Jamie, alright? It's as if you're asking for trouble."

"I agree. We've all known each other since high school, Satan. I don't think this is all about just 'helping her out'. You've even ditched that important meeting you're supposed to have today for this thing." Quinn says and fixes the girl's white backless dress from behind.

Santana snickers. "Come on, you guys. Britt and I are like sisters. She needed my help and I'm giving it to her. She would have done the same for me in a heartbeat. Besides, I'm too valuable for my bosses to fire me and I've got that jewelry girl I'm pitching for wrapped around my little finger. The both of you are just making something out of nothing."

"So, you're saying that you've never had any feelings for her in the past, ever?" Quinn crosses her arms.

"I love Brittany, of course. Just not _that_ way."

"I don't know, Santana. What if the both of you fall in love in this little pretend game?" Puck raises an eyebrow at her.

"We won't, okay? You guys are overthinking this arrangement." Santana chuckles and checks her phone for a second to see a message from Brittany. "And for the record, Brittany and I are complete opposites of the spectrum. Ain't gonna happen."

"Now that I think about it, that's true. Brittany's this nice, sweet, quirky girl while you on the other hand, my friend, are the extreme opposite. Snarky, rude, and probably the worst model when it comes to dating. You've practically slept with every lesbian and bisexual woman here in New York. Even the straight ones experimenting! God, just thinking about it makes me want to hug myself in the shower for five hours and douse myself with alcohol after."

"Sure. I'll set you on fire myself, bitch." Santana replies smirking as she checks herself out one last time in the mirror. "Look, it's not my fault they want to get up all on this."

"So, you're sure that you girls won't develop feelings for each other?" Quinn looks back at the brunette inquisitively.

"We won't fall in love with each other, baby. That, I'm positive on." Santana utters firmly as she gathers her purse from the couch then walks towards the door.

"You say that now, Lopez. I'll remember this as the moment you told us your famous last words." Puck warns her.

Santana turns her attention to them one last time as she opens the door. "Then I'll give you both the honor of saying you told me so." Santana adds with a wink then leaves their apartment shaking her head in disbelief.

* * *

"Have I told you how smoking hot you are right now?" Santana tells Brittany with a smirk as they sit on the backseat of their ride to the Hummels' residence.

Brittany rolls her eyes at her best friend. "Only about the fourth time since I've picked you up at Quinn's five minutes ago."

Santana's smirk widens as she checks out the blonde who's wearing a low cut little black dress that's the perfect combination of classy and slutty at the same time. And those boobs? All that's missing are her 3D glasses and she's set for life.

"Stop leering, San. It's not like you haven't seen me wear this dress before."

"Can't blame me. I'm memorizing everything so I can save it in my memory for retrieval later when I fantasize about you."

Brittany laughs out loud and looks up from her phone to stare at the other girl. "You really do that, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course! Just because we're best friends doesn't mean I can't have naughty thoughts about you, babe."

"You are unbelievable. Sometimes I wonder why I'm best friends with you."

Santana chuckles and rests her head on Brittany's shoulder. "Because you adore me. Terribly."

"I do, unfortunately." The blonde replies and earns a slap on the arm from Santana. "Just kidding, honey. You're like the sweetest person, I know. And you agreeing to do this with me just makes me the luckiest girl ever. Thank you, San. I really owe you bigtime." She adds and rests her head on top of the other girl's.

Santana smiles warmly. "Anything for you, Britt."

Brittany subtly checks out her best friend and she has to admit that the girl looks freaking amazing as always, maybe even more right now. She didn't really mean to check her out but can you really blame her? "You're killing it in that dress, San."

"I know, right?" Santana chuckles.

A shiny reflection catches Brittany's eyes from Santana's hand. She scrutinizes it for a second before grabbing the girl's hand and raises it for a closer inspection. "Why are you wearing a ring?" Brittany quips curiously. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

Santana slowly sits upright to face the blonde. "Oh God, no. As if!" She smirks and Brittany motions for her to give an explanation. "Remember the project I'm heading at work? Well, I'm pitching for these diamond jewelers and they sent over a few of their samples for 'inspiration'. This is one of them."

"It's absolutely beautiful!" Brittany exclaims as she looks at the ring a little closer. "But are you allowed to even use it outside of work?"

"Yeah, they said it themselves. Plus, the woman I'm sealing the contract with is just crazy for me too. So, no worries."

"You slept with her, didn't you?"

"A gentlewoman does not kiss and tell." Santana winks at her best friend.

A thought pops in Brittany's head immediately. "Wait. San, you can't wear that."

The brunette instantly pouts. "Why not? It really matches my dress."

"It does and I'm sorry but it commands too much attention, you know. The last thing we need right now is people making assumptions when they see a ring on your finger."

Santana thinks about it for a moment. As much as it disappoints her, Brittany's right. The brunette sighs deeply and nods as she motions to remove the ring whilst struggling. "Alright then. I'll do it when we get there though because imma need some soap. This bitch fits too perfectly that I can't seem to get it off."

"Maybe your finger is just too big for it."

Santana snorts at the blonde's innocent words while smirking. "Why don't we try and find out if my fingers fit perfectly _in_ you?"

"Not happening, bro." Brittany returns the smirk as she shakes her head.

"You say that now, honey."

* * *

They arrive in front of the Hummels' residence after a couple of minutes. Santana, as sweet as candy, opens the door for Brittany. But then again, Santana always does that. Brittany has always thought that she's the perfect gentlewoman and that's probably why all those girls are just throwing themselves at her like crazy.

"So, we need to act like a legit couple, right?" Santana utters nervously, both women trying to come up with a plan just outside of the Hummels' apartment complex.

"Yep." Brittany sighs deeply before turning her attention towards her best friend. "So, lots of handholding and invasion of each other's personal space are in store."

"Can I touch your boobs or ass? Or maybe both?" Santana grins devilishly.

"No! We need to settle boundaries, San."

The brunette pouts when a thought suddenly comes up. "What if they ask us to kiss?"

Brittany ponders about it for a moment. Yeah, what if? "If the situation calls for it, then why not?"

Santana looks at her, intrigued by her words. "I've always known you have the hots for me, Britt. Just say it and you'll have the best night of your life."

"You're funny, San. But you of all people should know that I don't put out on the first date. Besides, I don't want to be lucky number 200 on your bedpost."

The brunette chuckles. "Even pretend dates?"

"Yes, even pretend dates." Brittany chuckles. "Now, let's go in before we freeze out here. Just be yourself, okay? Just, you know, different." She adds with a forced grin.

Santana squints her eyes. "I will disregard that statement for the sake of our friendship."

"Gosh, I have a bad feeling about this. I really hate lying." Brittany exclaims, biting her lip.

Santana holds out her hand for Brittany who smiles and hesitantly takes it. "Just relax, babe. I got you."

* * *

"Brittany!" Burt exclaims upon seeing the couple enter their amazing penthouse apartment overlooking the Upper East Side.

"Burt, this is such a beautiful place." Brittany grins and drags Santana towards the man.

Burt chuckles as he gives Brittany a kiss on the cheek. "My wife decorated the whole place, actually." The man turns to Santana. "And you must be the famous Jamie. How are you doing, young lady? The both of you look like a million dollars!"

Santana doesn't hear him as her gaze wanders around the huge ass apartment. Actually, she doesn't notice it, probably because her name really isn't 'Jamie'. It wasn't until she felt a nudge coming from Brittany that she notices Burt staring inquisitively at her.

"Burt just asked you something, Jamie." Brittany puts emphasis on the name with wide eyes and Santana finally snaps out of it.

"Y-Yes.. Jamie! That's m-me. I-I'm sorry, your penthouse just looks amazing. Got distracted for a while there. It's so nice to finally meet you, sir. W-What was that again?"

The man laughs. "I said, you and your date look amazing. And please call me Burt. It's a pleasure to finally meet you as well!" He holds his hand out and the brunette nervously shakes it.

Santana does a quick glance at Brittany with an awkward smile before turning her attention back on Burt. "A-Absolutely! Can't agree with you more."

A waiter walks by and hands them glasses of champagne. Brittany takes this moment to lean towards Santana's ear. "San, you're 'Jamie' right now. Don't space out on me."

Brittany's words instantly registers with Santana and the brunette just wants to slap herself for almost forgetting that. Santana subtly nods and faces Burt again with a smile while raising her glass.

"So, Jamie, what do you think about that medical breakthrough of using a Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit?"

Santana looks curiously at Burt as she takes a sip of her champagne. "U-Uh.. I-I'm not really particularly interested in the medical field."

Burt raises an eyebrow at the brunette. "Really? I find that peculiar given that you're a doctor.'

The brunette almost chokes on her champagne and her eyebrows instantly shoots up. "W-What? No, I'm actually an advertising execu—"

A sudden pain courses through Santana's left foot. She's about to protest when a wide eyed Brittany with a scrunched up face gives her a hardened stare. Then she fucking gets it.

"D-Doctor! Yes. I'm a doctor, B-Burt. A doctor, I-I am." Santana blurts out nervously as she faces Burt again looking like a deer caught in headlights. "I-I'm not 'particularly' interested in it because I'm crazy interested in medicine! A-Advertising, I-I uh.. like to advertise about the medical field. That's it! I just love it so much that it's all I-I could think about." Santana rambles in a panic and Burt smiles, looking satisfied.

"Such passion you have, Jamie. It's incredibly admirable." Burt utters seriously as he rests his hands on the brunette's shoulder.

Santana awkwardly chuckles. "Y-Yeah. Passion! I just got it, you know. Vested on me like a sucker."

"Is that Jamie? Brittany's _Jamie_?" An approaching Carole exclaims upon seeing the couple.

Both girls turn to look at her with surprise. "U-Uh.. Yes, you must be Mrs. Hummel?" Santana states.

"Call me Carole, please." The woman muses and engulfs the brunette in a hug. "I'm such a big fan of your girlfriend and I've been dying to meet you, dear! You are so much more beautiful than Brittany has let on! Princess Charming in the flesh!"

Santana collects herself together when Carole finally lets her go. The brunette grins, feeling much confident now as she finally gets the hang of things. "I could say the same for you, Carole. You're the most beautiful dame here aside from my stunning girlfriend, of course."

"Oh, gosh. Thank you, Jamie. You're such a darling! Brittany here is very lucky to have such a partner like you." Carole blushes.

"I'd have to disagree with you on that because I am definitely _the_ lucky one here." Santana smirks. She glances at Brittany beside her whose face is comparable to that of a tomato.

"Aren't they charming, Burt? Look at them, just in love." Carole grins as Burt nods his head in agreement.

Both women are just about to respond when Mrs. Hummel excitedly holds Santana's arms. "Jamie, I know we just met but I really need to ask something I've been dying to know for a while now."

Uh-oh. Do they know? Santana nervously waits for Carole's words and shares an anxious look with Brittany.

"Do you mind me asking for your famous torte recipe?"

Both women actually chuckles in relief but fear immediately replaces it soon after. Santana purses her lips because she has seriously no idea what the fuck this woman's talking about.

"Your famous Spicy Argentinian Dark Chocolate Torte, honey." Brittany quips with a nervous smile.

"O-Oh yeah, that one!" Santana laughs a little too loud and hastily thinks of a response.

However, Brittany does it for her. "I-I- Well, y-you see, it's kind of a secret family recipe."

The moment the words sink in, Carole instantly looks heartbroken. "O-Oh. That's really sad. I heard that it's really good and I wanted people to taste it for that out-of-town show we're doing next week in the Hamptons. You know, like show it off." She pouts and Santana just about combusts with guilt.

"W-Well, I'm sure we could work things out. You know, like an exception. I don't think Grandma Lopez would kill me for it." She shrugs and Carole's face lights up while Brittany glares hard at her.

"Oh! That is wonderful! I can't wait for it!" Mrs. Hummel muses.

"Ooh.. Look, it's Dani!" Brittany suddenly exclaims beside her and Santana cannot thank her enough for intervening the most awkward conversation in her life. The blonde drags her towards Dani who's giving a dramatic speech of some sort in the middle of the penthouse's living room.

"Nice save, San." Brittany mutters, looking a bit amused.

"You could have saved me a little earlier!" Santana huffs.

"Well, I was kinda enjoying the first few parts. It's not everyday I see you get flustered like that. But sorry for not telling you some stuff about Jamie."

"You seriously owe me big time now. I'm calling it." Santana grits through her teeth.

"Yeah. I'll let you grab my boobs and ass during pretend dates now." The blonde giggles and Santana playfully rolls her eyes. "What are we gonna do about that damn torte?" The blonde adds.

"I'm sure we can find that bakery where Jamie gets it and buy every piece they have. I can't stand Carole looking like that, she's really nice." Santana mutters under her breath and Brittany nods in agreement.

"And I said, 'Mister, you cannot do that! You'll lose all your money in that investment'! Lo and behold, turns out that man is the one and only Burt Hummel! On a good note, he listened to me and I bet his investments tripled over the past two years!" Dani exclaims and everyone laughs at her statement for no apparent reason.

Brittany and Santana arrive a little too late to hear the story but their presence doesn't go unnoticed by Dani.

"Brittany! So glad you could finally join us!" Dani declares in the most fake tone ever.

"Dani, so glad you arrived safely." Brittany replies in the most innocent way and Santana tries to stifle her laughter while Dani decides to disregard the blonde's backhanded comment.

"Everyone!" Burt exclaims and the people around them turn to see the commotion. "I'd like you all to meet the two most wonderful and talented women on radio right now. Dani Harper, the best credit & finance expert and host of 'Straight Talk with Dani'." He gestures towards the woman smirking as she soaks up all the attention.

"And of course, the daughter of the late famous sportscaster, Richard Pierce, Dalton Radio's resident relationship expert and host of Romantically Speaking, Brittany Pierce!" Burt motions for Brittany who elicits a shy smile as the crowd cheers.

"That's actually really funny, isn't it? How some people rely on their famous parents for fame while the rest of us work our asses off just to get the same opportunity?" Dani declares with a bitter tone. A few people chuckle at her statement, with some even raising their glasses. Santana immediately goes into defense mode upon hearing the girl's harsh words undoubtedly directed towards her best friend. She glances at Brittany who looks absolutely embarrassed and destroyed by the comment.

"Well, yeah. I think that's funny seeing that Brittany here got to where she is by actually working her ass off to get that BA in Communications and Masters in Social Psychology from NYU. Lemme tell you something, ladies and gentlemen, I've watched her gulp down almost a barrel of coffee all in a week just to catch a bunch of deadlines. And wow, don't even get me started on that unpaid internship she slaved for! Haven't we all felt like that?" Santana exclaims and earns hearty laughs from everyone in the room.

She glances at Brittany beside her looking much better than she was a few seconds ago. The blonde intertwines her hands with Santana's and gives it a proper squeeze while mouthing a quick 'thank you' which the brunette returns with a wink.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Dani snaps upon approaching them.

Santana doesn't let up though. "I'm Jamie, Brittany's girlfriend. And you are?"

Dani's reaction turns to that of surprise and Santana's not really sure whether it's from the shock of not knowing the host or the fact that this is 'Jamie' she's talking to.

"Oh, _the_ Jamie! Wow, you are one good-looking woman. Are you sure you're a doctor? Because you could definitely pass as a supermodel." Dani smirks and invades Santana's personal space which irks the brunette.

"Why, thank you, Delly. I wish I could say the same about you." Santana quips with a smirk written all over her face. Brittany bites her lip hard to stop herself from laughing at her best friend's snarkiness.

It doesn't deter Dani's spirit though. It does a fucking reverse psychology effect on the girl and only intensifies her want to get to know her rival's "perfect partner". What can she say, nobody says no to her.

"Charming. I like your attitude, Jamie. I think we'll get along just fine in the next few weeks we'll be spending together trying to get that syndication. And it's Dani, actually."

Santana opens her mouth, about to unleash Auntie Snixx when an arm snakes around her waist, making her jump a little.

"Yeah, my girlfriend and I will definitely enjoy the next few weeks in each other's _close_ company." Brittany chimes in while giving Dani a look that the brunette can't decode. Santana can't react properly either because she's literally stuck between the two girls.

"This is going to be absolutely fun and interesting, Brittany! Such a big change for you, I bet." Dani says through gritted teeth while raising an eyebrow.

"Ladies!" Carole exclaims and Santana can't thank her stars enough for the distraction. "How about you both give us a little speech and introduce yourself properly to the board?"

Dani and Brittany's staring contest holds for another two seconds before they break it up and agree to talk in front of all the people in the room. Dani goes on first, going on and about how hosting a finance talk show has been the best thing that's happen in her life, how life changing it is to help people get out of their financial rut and money problems, and a little humor about getting to indirectly insult them for their stupid decisions. Classy. Just classy of Dani. The people in the room don't notice it though, they just think this pompous girl is an amazing host. The only ones who don't seem convinced about the act are the Hummels, Santana, and Brittany.

After talking nonstop for almost fifteen minutes, Dani finally finishes her speech and subtly rolls her eyes at Brittany before disappearing somewhere.

"You can do it, babe." Santana whispers in Brittany's ear as she squeezes her hand one last time before letting it go. This somehow boosts the blonde's confidence as she walks towards the front and faces everyone with a grin.

"Hello everyone, I'm Brittany Pierce! I know some of you probably know me because of my father, Rich Pierce, an incredible radio host. The best, actually." Brittany pauses and smiles at the memory of her father. "My father is my biggest inspiration. He relentlessly told me to pursue my passion because as he used to say, doing what you love for a living is just about the best thing ever. He cannot be more right about that. Radio is my passion, you see. There's nothing I would rather do than radio. Well, maybe except feed the ducks.." Brittany shrugs and everyone laughs, enamored with the blonde's charms.

"Excuse me." A finger taps Santana on the shoulder which distracts her from listening to Brittany's speech. She turns her head and see an old woman beside her, smiling sweetly.

"Can I help you, ma'am?"

"Well, I heard that you're the wonderful girl Jamie that Brittany's dating." The old woman muses. The brunette nods, waiting for the rest of her sentence. "I'm just wondering when the wedding is?"

This surprises Santana and takes her aback. "Wedding? We're not engaged, ma'am." She says while squinting her eyes.

The old woman pouts and looks genuinely confused. "Then why do you have a ring on your finger, dear?"

It takes Santana a couple of seconds before she stupidly realizes that she's still wearing that damn ring she promised to take off awhile ago. "O-Oh no! T-This isn't a.. uhmm.. _that_ kind of ring." Santana utters as she struggles to take the fucking ring off her finger.

"Would you like some help taking that off?" The old woman offers and Santana almost does a facepalm at how ridiculous the situation is.

"N-No. I can do t-this. I-It's just—"

"Spit on it, dear. It helps, believe me." The old woman grins innocently at her and Santana doesn't even want to know the story behind that statement. Seriously.

Santana gives the old woman a weird look. "W-What? Like a-actually—"

The ring suddenly comes off of her finger but the force she exerted in removing it was a bit too much because she loses grip of the object and it comes off flying somewhere across the room.

"Shit!" Santana mumbles as she looks around in a panic, trying to find the flying ring.

"There it is, sweetie!" The old woman points somewhere after a minute of watching Santana search for it. The brunette follows the direction Oldie's pointing at and sees something shining in front of Brittany's feet. Santana sighs deeply and quickly thanks the old woman because she'd really hate to pay for that expensive bitch which probably costs a leg and a half.

Santana weaves through the crowd and towards the ring on the floor. When she tries to reach for the ring though, the brunette finds it particularly hard to pick it up because of the tight backless dress she's wearing. So, she kneels on one knee, slowly, very slowly and carefully so she doesn't tear up her incredibly tight and expensive dress in front of these many people as she picks up the ring. Santana breathes a sigh of relief when she finally gets a hold of the ring and holds the object up to inspect if it incurred some scratches but thankfully, it doesn't have one.

"San, what are you doing?!" A hard voice whispers above her and the brunette sees her best friend giving her a panicked look that's bordering on shock.

Santana freezes. She doesn't get to properly react anymore because after a moment, she realizes what's up. She's kneeling on one knee in front of her 'girlfriend' while holding out a fucking ring. Even a five year old kid can put two and two together.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

"I-I.. Uh.." Santana tries to musters up a few words to explain the situation but comes up empty. She tries to stand up but the tight dress is making it extremely difficult for her to do so. Seriously. She doesn't want to add anymore insult to the injury by tearing her dress up and flashing everyone here.

"Oh my god! We have a proposal!" A voice exclaims and Santana wants nothing more right now but to remove that person's vocal chords and serve it as hors d'oeuvre with salt and pepper.

Everyone in the room except Dani, who's gaping at the turn of events, erupts with excitement and cheers loudly at the scene before them. A few people were even taking pictures of the moment and chanting words that both women couldn't discern.

Santana's out of ideas right now. Even Brittany. So, in a moment of shock and panic, Santana takes a deep breath before looking up at Brittany with a confused look while the blonde is just too frozen to react. _It's just for publicity._ Brittany's voice echoes in her head. _It's just for publicity._ Brittany's voice repeats over and over in her head.

There is only one thing she could do right now and she knows that she has no choice but to do it.

"B-Brittany, w-will you.. uh.." Santana gulps loudly and tries to get as much oxygen as she can before clearing her throat. "W-Will you m-marry me?" She adds in the most insecure and unsure tone anyone has probably ever heard of a person proposing. It's almost too painful to watch.

Brittany holds her breath as she stares back at her best friend who's kneeling in front of her. She blinks a few times while she tries to catch her breathing. Everyone's eyes are on them and there's only so much she can do. She looks back at Santana and takes one last deep breath. _Fuck it._ Brittany thinks.

"U-Uh.. Yes?" Brittany replies in the same insecure and unsure tone as Santana's.

The crowd reacts with the same excitement from a minute ago albeit, much louder. Brittany finally helps Santana stand up and shares a hardened look with her. The brunette slips the ring on Brittany's finger while trying hard not to make eye contact. It slips on like butter much to their surprise and chagrin. Shit. It's as if the ring's mocking them in their faces.

Everyone cheers again and a deafening applause takes over. After a moment, a bunch of people make their way towards them and separates both women from the other as they proceed to bombard each girl with question after question while being completely oblivious to their distress.

"So, when's the wedding?" The old woman from earlier asks Santana with the same innocence and grin from awhile ago and she couldn't do anything but awkwardly smile back.

For the record, the rings fits Brittany perfectly. So perfectly.

* * *

 **I really enjoyed writing this chapter, even proud of it! Hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I wrote it.**

 **Lemme know what you think! I want to know if you're liking my spin on the story so far and if I'm keeping you interested :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ooh.. What's that? A double update with Chasing Pavements? Oh yeah!**

 **I'm glad that you guys are liking my spin on the movie. Thank you for all the reviews!**

 **Kinda put a little LoA POV-like on this chapter. You'll know it when you see it ;)**

 **I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING. ENJOY!**

* * *

The ride home is incredibly silent. With no one speaking and neither looking at the other. Well, halfway into it, all hell breaks loose.

"Santana, I cannot believe you! What happened back there? We're already way deep into this already!" Brittany huffs with her attention directed at Santana beside her.

"It was an accident, okay? I didn't mean for it to happen! One second I was talking to this old, almost toothless woman who was asking me about the ring and the next thing I know, I'm fumbling for the shit after taking it off and on my knees 'proposing' in front of you!" Santana counters. It scares her because she's never seen her best friend like this before.

The blonde sighs. "I told you to take the ring off, didn't I?"

"Brittany, you were there beside me the whole damn time! I barely even got to breathe as soon as we arrived!"

"You're right! Okay. I'm sorry." Brittany holds her hands up in defense. She breathes deeply and places a hand on her forehead. "Look, for the record, I would have done the same if I were in your position. This is just.. Oh God!" Brittany groans and throws her hands in the air.

"This is crazy, Britt! Now we're not only 'girlfriends', we're fucking 'engaged'!"

"I know, okay. Let's stop shouting at each other like this. We just have to make do with what we have here. Or maybe I should just come clean and tell everyone the tru-"

"No! You cannot do that! Everyone's convinced of the act, we just have to go along with the lie for a bit more and-"

"Santana, we got into this mess in the first place because of a freaking lie. And burying it with one more on top of the other is not going to help the situation at all. We have to stop it now before it gets even more out of hand. What's next? Us getting married next week?"

"Britt, a syndication is on the line here! This is your dream! You can't let this little hurdle get in the way. All I'm saying is that we go along with it for just a little more then you can pour your heart out with the truth after you get it. Like you said, we're already deep into this already. There's no turning back."

"But my success will be based on a lie. I'm basically a fraud here." Brittany says exasperatedly. "And please stop shouting at me. I feel like this is too much lying already, San. My dad wouldn't have-"

"But he's not here anymore! He's been dead for years already! Stop being so damn uptight!" Santana shouts back and takes Brittany by surprise. The moment Santana utters those words, an avalanche of regret and guilt instantly washes over her.

"B-Britt, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it-"

"It's exactly what you meant." Brittany says nonchalantly. She covers her face with her hands while perching those elbows on her thighs, trying not to cry and get it together.

Santana takes three deep breaths as she tries to calm herself down. "Look Britt, I'm partly responsible for convincing you to get into this mess. What happened was something I did not plan, okay? I promise you that we'll get that syndication together if you're still up for it but if this thing is going to tear us apart then I'll accept whatever your decision is."

Brittany sighs deeply as she removes the ring from her hand and does a quick look at her best friend without saying a word while giving it back.

"Don't decide now." Santana sternly says as she accepts the ring. "Britt, we're both on edge about this. Let's talk some other time when we're completely calm and don't want to kill each other out of rage and confusion." Santana counters and bites her lip. The car stops in front of the brunette's apartment and they sit there for a minute before Santana motions to get out of the car.

"I'll talk to you later, okay? In the meantime, let's find out where your ex gets that torte. That is, if you still want to do this. If not, then we can always just eat it and make up over the dessert. We're in this together, Britt. Don't forget that. I'm sorry for what I said." Brittany smiles shyly at her before nodding once.

Santana nods and gives Brittany a kiss on the temple before alighting from the car. As soon as Santana's out of sight, the blonde leans on the window and bumps her head repeatedly while groaning. "What did I get myself into?" She mumbles to herself.

"Are you okay, Miss Pierce?" Her driver exclaims from the driver's seat as he looks at Brittany curiously.

Brittany sighs. "Yeah, my life is just a big mess right now but it's not a big deal." She mutters under her breath. "Let's go home, please."

* * *

It's been a week since Santana and Brittany became 'engaged'.

They still haven't talked to each other except for the few messages regarding the non-existence of Jamie's Chocolate Torte in New York. Both of them can't help but think about what happened back at the party and after it though. Yeah, Brittany felt a little off with what Santana said during the ride home about her dad but after going at it in her mind relentlessly for the past few days, she finally came to a conclusion that Santana's right. There's no turning back here. They have to go for it. That's what her father would do and knowing her dad, he'd be pretty disappointed if she'll give up in the middle of the game. The blonde will struggle in withholding the truth, that's for sure. But ultimately, she wasn't raised as a quitter.

Lately, Brittany finds herself thinking about Santana in the most random of times. It's as if a feeling had been ignited within her when Santana 'proposed' like that, like she's suddenly seeing her best friend in a whole new light. It's weird. It just happens automatically for her. A few minutes upon waking up, while eating lunch and thinking if Santana has eaten already, or sometimes before she sleeps. The blonde often wonders what Santana's doing and if, maybe, she's thinking about her too. It's not really a big deal, the blonde guesses. Maybe Brittany just misses her. Yeah. That's probably it.

Santana's actually thinking about Brittany too. Maybe that 'proposal' wasn't exactly accidental. Maybe that's something her subconscious wanted? Well, Santana's confused as hell right now because she should be regretting it, not feeling indifferent about the whole thing. Every now and then, she finds herself staring at Brittany on a picture she has of them in her office. It's Santana's favorite, actually. A candid picture of them back in college, making funny faces towards the camera while sitting on the grass, just being carefree and silly like always. She knows that Brittany's unbelievably beautiful in the picture but right now, seeing her best friend in a whole new aspect like this, shit just got real. Add the fact that the said picture is on her table looking back at her and basically slapping her face-to-face with its presence is enough to make anyone go crazy. Maybe Santana just misses her. Yeah. That's probably it.

"So, you're not just 'girlfriends' now, but you're 'engaged'." Quinn slowly repeats Brittany's words. The radio host nods her head. "Where did Santana get the ring?" They're situated in a café just a couple of blocks from Quinn's apartment, having some afternoon tea and cake.

"Work. They let her borrow it." Brittany says nonchalantly.

Quinn sticks out her bottom lip and nods. "I see. So, what's your plan now? Still going through this 'engagement'?"

The other blonde sighs deeply. "I honestly don't know, Q. This is all messed up! Santana and I got into a huge fight after the party and we can't even find the bakery where Jamie buys that damn chocolate torte. I'm almost convinced that she imports them from Argentina herself."

Quinn chuckles. "Then let's bake it. I'm sure there's a recipe somewhere."

"I'll probably set your kitchen on fire but I do appreciate you risking your life here."

"I'll have the fire extinguisher at bay, Britt." Quinn nudges Brittany on the arm and the girl finally smiles. "What about Santana? What did she say? It's been what, a week or two since you saw each other? That's a whole new record." The pregnant woman adds as she takes a sip of her tea.

"We said some hurtful stuff to each other and agreed to talk about it in person when we're not PMS crazy anymore. I miss her presence around me. Honestly, I've never felt this heavy feeling in my stomach over a fight with her. It's like a different kind of heavy. I don't know. Is that weird?"

Quinn flashes a subtle smile as she squints at the girl in front of her. "It's not weird, Britt. I'm sure you girls will fix everything over a talk." Quinn glances at her phone then calls for the check. "I got this one, B. Let's do a trial run of that torte tonight before my date with Puck. You're still babysitting for Beth, right?"

Brittany nods. "Of course. Is Santana still coming over?" She asks as they stand up.

Quinn laughs. "Your fiancée's probably starting to bake at my place as we speak."

* * *

"What the hell is a ganache?" Santana exclaims from the kitchen as soon as Brittany and Quinn enter the apartment.

"S, what did we tell you about the language?" Quinn raises an eyebrow at her.

"Don't worry about it, Puck's out with Beth to get some groceries and ice cream." She says nonchalantly, still staring at the recipe in her hands while mixing the flour and eggs.

"A ganache is a kind of frosting or filling. Just follow the recipe and you'll be fine." Quinn utters nonchalantly.

Brittany purses her lips as she approaches her best friend by the kitchen. "Hi, San."

Santana looks up, a bit surprised of Brittany's presence. "Oh, hey Britt."

An awkward silence takes over. Quinn's gaze jumps from one girl to the other and back again before finally having enough. "I'll go and take a shower. You girls talk and make that torte, okay? Don't burn the apartment down."

Her words weren't really heard by the other two who are just staring at each other.

"San, I-I.."

"Britt, look-" They speak simultaneously.

"And please, don't have sex on the couch or you'll see a naked, pregnant woman running from the bathroom to stop you!" They hear Quinn's voice from somewhere in the living room.

Santana rolls her eyes and Brittany just laughs as she walks behind the kitchen counter where the brunette is standing.

"Look, San. I apologize for how I acted. I was unfair, you were just trying to help me and I shouldn't have taken it out on you. That was unacceptable. The 'engagement' was an accident and we really couldn't have acted any differently in that situation. I'm sorry, San." Brittany utters with a heavy heart.

Santana smiles back. "No. I'm sorry, Britt. For what I said about your dad." The brunette sighs and shakes her head. "What I said about Richard was foul. I know how much he means to you and I disrespected that. I'm also sorry for shouting at you like that, I did it to spite you because I know how much you hate arguments. It was immature." Santana smiles shyly back at Brittany who's staring at her.

"So, if you're still up for it, there's nothing I'd rather do than be the best damn fiancée there is for you. That is, if we forgive each other."

"Well, after thinking it over, I decided that we should still go for it. We really are way deep into this and turning our backs on it would be a half-assed effort. I'm not a quitter and neither are you. I trust you and I know you mean well, San. Like you said, we're in this together. I'm in."

"Yeah?" Santana smiles widely.

"Yeah. My dad would have done the same thing if he were in this position. Plus, I know you love the drama of all this and playing the part of a fiancée is something I've really got to see you do. Seriously."

"Very funny, Britt. I won't be held down." Santana winks at her.

Brittany grins and leans towards the brunette. "I know. And I forgive you, Lopez." The blonde takes a handful of flour from the counter and throws it directly on Santana's face. The brunette smirks as she tries to remove the powdery substance from her eyes while her best friend is laughing her heart out.

"I forgive you too, Pierce." Santana exclaims as she takes an egg and smashes it directly on Brittany's head.

The blonde screams when some of the egg yolk touches her nose while Santana's laughing like a crazy person just staring at her. "You are so gonna regret this!" Brittany shouts as she grabs a whole bowl of flour and a few eggs then hides behind a counter in the middle of the kitchen.

"Bombs away!" Brittany screams as she blindly throws an egg at Santana. The first one hits the door of the stove but the other egg hits Santana square in the chest. "We have a direct hit, fellas!" The blonde muses as she laughs out loud.

Santana shrieks when she sees the damage the said egg has done to her blouse. So, she stomps towards the crouching blonde behind the counter and drops a whole bowl of flour on her head from above which takes Brittany completely by surprise and makes the girl blind for a few seconds. "Making it snow!"

Brittany stands up groaning and catches Santana's arm as she's just about to throw an egg while using a pot lid as a shield with the other. They laugh out loud as they try to wrestle each other for the remaining bowl of flour on the counter. After a moment of struggling, both women end up hugging each other in an attempt to thwart the other's plan of attack while trying to catch their breaths in the process.

The moment turns into something more though when Santana starts looking into Brittany's eyes and pushes some stray hair behind the girl's ear.

"Wow." Santana mutters, not taking her gaze off the blonde and her lips.

"What?" Brittany bites her lip and peers back at Santana.

"Have I ever told you how stunning you are?" Santana does that tight-lipped smile that Brittany knows she only makes when her best friend's holding back on something.

"I-I-" Brittany tries to speak but falls short when she sees Santana leaning towards her. The blonde holds her breath and almost closes her-

"What the hell?" Puck exclaims while staring at them with wide eyes from the living room.

Suddenly, a running, slightly drenched, and naked Quinn appears from the hallway across the kitchen. "I told you guys not to have se-" She pauses and looks incredibly shocked at the scene before her. "What the hell did you to do my kitchen?! What is wrong with you people?"

"Mommy, Daddy, language! Oh no, Mommy's naked!" Beth quips then covers her eyes with both of her hands.

"You better clean up everything or I swear that the both of you will never set foot in our apartment ever again!" She huffs before walking back towards where she came from.

Santana and Brittany erupts in laughter when they finally notice the gravity of the situation, namely how fucked up the kitchen looks like now. However, they pull apart after a few seconds, clearing their throats when they notice just how close they really are to each other and doing a slight glance at one another in the process.

The thing that surprises them the most is the fact that they didn't stop themselves from almost kissing each other.

* * *

"I don't understand what went wrong! We followed the recipe!" Santana huffs, throwing her hands in the air.

"Maybe because you put 14 eggs in there and some eggshells, Aunt Santana?" Beth quips in front of her, sitting on the bar stool by the kitchen counter.

"But the recipe called for 14 eggs and I didn't want to fish out the eggshells!"

Beth shakes her head furiously and grabs the recipe. "No, it's just 4!"

"What? Lemme see." Santana grabs the paper with wide eyes. True enough, it really did call for 4 eggs only. Where the hell did the '1' come from? "No!"

Beth laughs at her Aunt Santana and perches her head on her arms that are resting on the counter. "It's okay, we can try again until we perfect it."

Santana sighs and grins at the kid after a few seconds. "Yeah, we could do that. You're such a genius, Beth!"

"Like Mommy?" Beth exclaims excitedly.

Santana seems to think about it for a moment. "Well, yeah. Like your mommy. Or Aunt Britty. Your Aunt Brittany is the smartest person Aunt Santana knows, honey."

Her goddaughter's eyes widen. "Really? Wow, I want to be like Aunt Brittany!"

"Did I just hear my name being called by the world's most beautiful kid?" Brittany singsongs as she walks back to the kitchen.

"Aunt Tana told me that you're the smartest person in the world, Aunt Britty!" Beth looks on with such awe.

Brittany turns her attention to Santana and gives her a curious look. "I stand by what I said." The brunette smirks. Brittany's stare unconsciously moves down to her best friend's lips before clearing her throat. Santana wonders if she really saw the blonde do that or maybe she's starting to turn delusional. Like imagining that '1' on the recipe.

"So, I called the few remaining bakeries on our list and they don't sell that kind of torte. I even had the station call Christina Tosi and she doesn't make it. I think we need to go to Spain so we can get Carole one." Brittany sighs deeply and Santana looks at her with amusement.

"Oh, it's okay, babe. Like Beth said here, we can always try and make a new one."

"Yeah, I guess so. Great idea, Beth! Let's do it again!"

Santana snorts and leans towards Brittany's ear. "That's what they all say, don't they?" Brittany slaps her on the arm and gestures to Beth who's looking curiously at them.

"How was your date last night?"

Both women instantly turn their heads and stare at the kid with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Mommy said my aunts went on a date."

The adults share a knowing look, not knowing what to tell the kid and how to explain the situation.

"U-Uh.. Beth, it's not really like-" Brittany stutters.

"Yeah, sweetie. It wasn't like that." Santana nervously chuckles and avoids Brittany's gaze.

Beth pouts and looks at the adults with genuine sadness. "That makes me sad."

"U-Uh. Why is that?" Santana gives her a look.

"Because you and Aunt Britty look beautiful together and you always say 'I love you' to each other like Mommy and Daddy. And the both you are always sweet and look at each other when the other is not looking."

"We do?" Both women exclaim at the same time with raised eyebrows while Beth nods her head profusely.

They glance at each other in a swift motion before turning their attention somewhere else.

"That's too bad. I won't get to have a playmate anytime soon then." Beth utters.

"Alright! Who wants some pizza? I know I do!" Santana cries out as she scoops up the kid from the bar stool, trying to break the awkwardness.

"Can we get the bacon cheeseburger flavor, Aunt Tana?" The kid replies, as if forgetting the previous rambling that she did.

"Of course, honey! Why don't we watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too and maybe play Pictionary while we're at it?" Santana happily exclaims as they go to the living room.

Brittany watches the cute scene unfold before her from the kitchen. It makes her smile as she looks at her best friend and goddaughter laughing by the couch. It warms her heart, actually. Because even though Santana's this notorious player, she's always been good with kids. Just looking at them is enough proof. Maybe Santana has hope after all when it comes to having a relationship? Well, if Brittany's going to be honest, she's the only girl that the brunette is actually honest and real with. The one who Santana has let her guard down to and knows her deepest secrets. Maybe there's hope between them if they fall in lo-

Brittany shakes her head and closes her eyes for a moment so she can snap out of it. She can't think about this. That almost kiss meant nothing. It was a mistake. They're best friends, for god's sake. She looks back at the living room again and catches Santana staring and smiling sweetly back at her, holding her gaze for a moment before turning her attention back to Beth.

Yeah. Nothing's changed between them. She only needs to convince herself with the lie.

* * *

"I don't know what to do, Brittany. I love her but we've been best friends since college. I'm the closest guy friend she has and I don't want things to get weird if I tell her how I really feel." The caller says with a sad tone on the other line.

"I know it's hard for you but how will you know if she feels the same way if you don't tell her? You said that she's been sending signals, right? Then, that must be a sign in itself. Love is about taking risks." Brittany replies.

A sudden thought of Santana comes up in her mind. It's been a week since they made up over baking that torte and the thought of Santana in _that_ way is still bothering her. They're both back to their usual ways but the blonde has been particularly observant of the little things since that night. Like when they did their weekly movie night the other day, Santana was unusually sweet by bringing over her favorite pretzels. Or how they seemed to maintain a small distance between them throughout the whole night which was weird because they always cuddle, more than a normal, actual couple should. And how when they both dug for the popcorn bowl at the same time, basically holding each other's hand at that, it became awfully awkward for the next few minutes. Damn butterflies.

"Brittany?"

She jumps a little, forgetting that she's actually on air. "Uh.. Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I said it was just so sudden, you know. One day I was looking at her as a friend then the next I was wondering what it would actually feel like to be with her. I can tell that she feels the same way. All those looks that she gives me, those sweet things, and she even asks me what I had for lunch nowadays."

The blonde gulps and can't help but notice some particular similarities in her life right now. It's as if the caller's dilemma is mocking her to face her own. "Maybe she's just afraid like you. Maybe it's through asking those little things that she gets to be closer to you on a certain level. Maybe this girl is just afraid to take the plunge because she's still not sure how to go about this and how she really feels about you. I mean, you've been best friends for a long time now. Taking the friendship to a higher level is scary but if you both go about this the right and slow way then maybe it will all be worth it in the end."

"You're right, Brittany." The caller replies. "Is that what happened to you and Jamie?"

Brittany bites her lip. "Y-Yeah. That's exactly what happened. Exactly how it went."

Will catches the blonde's attention and motions for her to wrap it up. "So, I'd like to thank everyone for sharing your stories today. I hope to see all of you at tomorrow's live broadcast and Dalton Radio's anniversary show at Staten Island. Again, this has been Romantically Speaking with your host, Brittany Pierce. And as my father used to say, your happiness is up to you. Up next, 'Straight Talk with Dani'."

"And.. we're out!" Will exclaims from the technical booth. "Great show, kid. You just keep on getting better at this. And the ratings? It's going through the roof!"

"Thanks, Will." Brittany replies happily as she takes off her headphones and gathers her stuff.

Will squints his eyes at the girl's antics and smirks. "You're particularly chirpy lately."

"I'm always chirpy."

"Extra chirpy." Will utters as Brittany approaches his table. "Maybe this has something to do with Santana?"

Brittany's smile falters at his words and clears her throat. "I don't know what you're talking about." Will gives her a knowing look and just nods. "See you tomorrow at the live broadcast." She adds before walking out of the booth.

Brittany walks through the busy halls of Dalton Radio after her show. It's the station's anniversary tomorrow and everyone's prepping for the out of town show which excites her. So, it surprises her all the more to see a familiar dirty blonde standing in the hallway with Rory the intern like nobody's business.

"Rory, a little more to the right." Dani exclaims, motioning for the intern to fix her new and bigger framed picture on the wall.

"Dani! What are you doing?" Brittany shouts as soon as she sees the woman in the hallway of Dalton Radio.

"What do you think, Brittany? I had them replace the frame of my picture with a bigger one. I'm having Rory here put it up in the middle. I hope you don't mind me putting yours on the side."

"Wait, does it have to be that close to my dad's picture?" Brittany huffs, pointing to Dani's huge picture.

"You're right." Dani nods. "Rory, can you put Mr. Pierce's picture at the end of the hall."

"What?! But-"

"Brittany, Dani, just the girls I wanted to see!" Blaine exclaims upon seeing them in the hallway. "I just want to fill you in about tomorrow's live broadcast for the station's anniversary."

"Oh, will they finally announce who gets the syndication?" Dani smirks and turns to Brittany. "I'm sorry, honey. You'll get your syndication someday."

"Not yet." Blaine rolls his eyes. "For this year's anniversary, they're going with a Carnival theme in one of the amusement parks there. You'll both be basically doing a live show in front of a sold out venue."

"Wow!' Both women utter in excitement.

"I know, right? It's gonna be a complete setting with a horror house and some rides. Also, get ready for some audience members asking random questions. I want you to be at your best too because the Burt, Carole, and the board will be there to check up on the both of you." He turns to Brittany. "And Britt, you have to bring Jamie tomorrow. And I think that torte Carole asked too?"

Brittany nods then gulps upon realizing that 'Jamie' and her will be making a public appearance for the first time as an engaged couple plus, Santana's not exactly fond of carnivals. "Shit!" Everyone looks at her curiously and she waves her hand in disregard. "Sorry. I just have to call someone." She adds before fetching her phone to call Santana and darting off somewhere.

"I thought she and Jamie broke up already." Rory chimes in after transferring Rich Pierce's picture and as soon as Brittany disappears from sight.

Dani's ears perk up then crosses her arms. "What do you mean and where did you hear that?"

"Will said to himself during Brittany's live broadcast that the girl wasn't Jamie and when I asked him about it, he said for me to zip it. I also might have accidentally eavesdropped on them talking about it a few weeks ago." Rory says nonchalantly.

Dani thinks about it for a second then smirks widely at the revelation. Rory, on the other hand, grits his teeth and does an internal face palm as soon as he realizes what he just said. "W-Well, what I meant was-"

"Don't worry about it, Rory. You said just enough." Dani utters to herself while grinning devilishly.

* * *

"What? But Britt, it's a carnival. You know how I feel about those creepy guys with their faces full of make up." Santana groans on the other line.

"I know you hate clowns and the whole bunch, San. But I need you there. We're 'engaged' now."

Santana sighs. "I know, babe. This is tomorrow, right?"

Brittany bites her lip. "Uhmm.. Yeah. You think you can come?"

"Of course, we talked about this a couple of times before, right? I already have a dress ready for tomorrow." Santana quips and they both chuckle. "So, I guess we have to make that torte tonight again."

"Yeah. See you later?"

"Can't wait to see me, Pierce?" The brunette smirks and plays with her hair.

"You wish, Lopez." Brittany smiles and a funny feeling settles in her stomach. "How's work so far?"

"Oh, you know. The usual. The charming chubby guy I told you finally asked my assistant out, so that's great. Plus, I closed the jewelers' account today, so a celebration is in store."

"Wow, that's great, San! You're finally getting your McMansion." Brittany jests and they both laugh.

"I am. I heard your show awhile ago. You were great as always." Santana smiles to herself.

The blonde bites her lip, suddenly remembering the call she received a while ago and how she thought it's oddly almost similar in a few aspects with how she feels about the situation between her and Santana. She tries to hold it back but the sudden urge just takes over her.

"So, uhmm.. What did you have for lunch?"

Santana's eyebrows raise in surprise as she purses her lips on the other line, not entirely expecting for Brittany to ask that. She feels a fluttering feeling in her stomach but nonetheless tries to act normal about it. "Meatloaf. Wish I had burgers though. How about you?"

"Just about to eat lunch, actually. I'm thinking chicken." Brittany utters then bites her nails out of habit. "D-Do you wanna grab some burgers later before we bake the torte?"

Santana can't help but grin on the other line like an idiot. "Sure, Britt. That would be nice."

"Cool!" The blonde exclaims a little too loud before clearing her throat. "See you in a while, baby."

Santana immediately sits upright from her chair and removes her feet from the table, a little surprised from what her best friend just said. Brittany closes her eyes and bites her lip so hard it might be bleeding now. She just hopes Santana doesn't look too much into it. After all, the brunette uses pet names all the time.

"'Baby'." Santana repeats and Brittany slaps herself on the forehead. "I rarely hear that from you."

"Who says I can't do pet names every now and then?" Brittany tries to save herself and sighs when she hears a chuckle from the other line.

Santana's assistant knocks on her door and waves a package that catches the brunette's attention. "Hey, Britt. Listen, I've got to go but I'll catch you later, alright?"

"Yeah, see you." Brittany voices out and hangs up immediately. The blonde sighs deeply as she tries to calm down from that heart attack inducing phone call she had. Maybe she's just overthinking everything. Santana isn't clearly thinking too much into it. Brittany looks at her phone one last time to see a message from Santana.

 **From San:** _Can't wait for burgers! Xoxo_

Brittany smiles upon reading the message. She closes her eyes, trying to ignore the fleeting thoughts and her weird, growing feelings for the girl. She needs to forget that Santana almost kissed her and how those butterflies in her stomach go crazy whenever she replays the moment in her mind. She can't feel this way. This is all just part of the act. She can't fall for her best friend.

 _It's just for publicity._

Brittany remembers telling Santana that and she never thought that she'd ever come to have second thoughts about it.

* * *

"Miss Lopez? I have a package for you." Santana's assistant exclaims from her boss' door.

The brunette hangs up and motions for the girl to come closer. "Any idea what it is?"

"Not really. But the jewelers' rep dropped by to give you this." She hands the shopping bag over to Santana. "They say it's a gift for a job well done."

Santana nods and proceeds to fish out a ring box from inside the bag. The brunette opens it to unveil the ring she used to 'propose' to Brittany a week ago. The sight of the beautiful ring makes Santana think about a certain blonde and how cute she was a while ago over the phone.

"Wow, that is beautiful! And it's free!" The assistant excitedly adds, making Santana snap out of it and clear her throat.

"Yeah. So, anything else you've got for me?" She replies with a raised eyebrow while putting the ring back in the jewelry box in front of her.

"Well, about that trip to The Hamptons you asked me to.." The assistant goes on and Santana suddenly spaces out.

Is she even sure about this? What was she thinking when she asked her assistant to book her and Brittany a weekend vacation to the Hamptons with just the two of them? It's too intimate. Well, they went on numerous trips like that before but it's a little different now between them. She can't possibly go through with it without the blonde thinking otherwise. Brittany's being cool and nonchalant about this arrangement they have. Heck, she probably hasn't even moved on from Jamie dumping her. Yeah, what really was she thinking when she thought about this plan? Maybe it's stupid for her to think that Brittany's starting to feel the same way when the blonde didn't back down during their almost kiss last week. This is stupid! Why did she even try to kiss Brittany out of the blue? They're fucking best friends! She can't have feelings for her Brittany.

"No, actually. It's okay. C-Cancel it. We're both busy and—uh.. Just cancel it." Santana pretends to act cool about it while waving her hand in disregard. The assistant looks at her curiously before leaving her boss' office.

Santana breathes deeply. She need to snap out of it and ignore the feeling in her stomach. She can't think too much about this thing between her and Brittany. The memory of her almost kissing the blonde when they tried to bake that torte is just too much to bear. She needs to forget it ever happened. She can't do this. She can't fall for her best friend.

 _It's just for publicity._

The words echo in Santana's mind. She opens the ring box again to get the ring and hold it up for another good look. It does fit Brittany perfectly. But they're best friends. Feelings complicate things and everything is already complicated as it is. She can't let herself be carried away. So, she gets her phone out and sends Brittany a quick message to act cool about the call they had a few minutes ago.

Santana places the ring back in the box again and puts it inside her bag before burying herself in some work stuff for the next few hours. Thing is, Santana's not really sure if she's trying to convince Brittany or herself with that message.

It bothers her because she already knows the answer to her own damn question without even asking.

* * *

 **Lemme know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again! I know it's been a while. I kind of had a writer's block but I finally came up with a good solution to beat it which I think you'll all be happy with. So, I don't wanna drag this on. Just find out about it at the end of this chapter.**

 **Shoutout to ChillYourBeans, thank you for the awesome feedback on this! :)**

 **Anyway, thank you for all the favorites, follows, and reviews. You guys are awesome!**

 **I had a blast writing this chapter! ENJOY!**

* * *

"I can't believe this! That's like the third girl I've struck with tonight!" Santana huffs after trying her luck with the girl from the other end of the bar.

After grabbing a quick snack of burgers with Brittany a while ago, they headed immediately to Quinn's place to bake the torte Carole requested. Well, 'bake' is a generous term since it was Quinn who mostly did all the work while Santana and Brittany got busy of being in charge with the sampling. Thankfully, nothing burned down and everyone's still alive when they – actually, Quinn – finished baking the damn torte. So, when everything's settled and ready for tomorrow's event, Puck dragged Santana out of the apartment and to a nearby bar for a couple of drinks and the essential 'girl talk' every now and then.

"I see that you've lost your mojo now." Puck comments while smirking.

"No, I have not. It's just an off day." Santana sneers as she takes a swig of her beer.

"Off day or maybe those girls are seeing right through you?"

The brunette looks at him with her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this thing with Brittany is getting interesting. What's up with that?" Puck adds and receives a curious look from Santana. "Oh, come on. Don't pretend there's nothing going on with you and her."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The brunette immediately avoids eye contact as she takes a gulp of her beer.

Puck grins devilishly. "Sure you don't."

Santana sighs. "There's nothing going on between us, okay? The whole thing is just for publicity."

"Publicity my ass. Satan, you've been staring at each other with sex eyes for the entire time Quinn was baking."

"It's nothing! Just leave it be! We've always been like that."

Puck sighs and holds up his hands for defense. "Fine. But I do think you and Brittany are meant for each other."

The brunette's ears perk up. "You think so?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Santana thinks about for a moment, even smiling unconsciously at the thought of it. But no, it can't be. She wipes the smile off her face and slaps Puck on the arm, making him spill a bit of his beer.

"Damn it, Lezpez. What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong is you trying to push this 'thing' with Brittany into something it's not. Stop corrupting my brain, Fuckerman."

Puck chuckles. "I just honestly know that you're overcompensating with everything, Santana. Wanna know how I know?"

Santana rolls her eyes and motions for Puck to continue. "Sure. Enlighten me, Yoda."

"I've been looking at how you were interacting with those girls from a while ago and for the first time in a really long time, it's as if you're deliberately not trying at all. Texting while you're talking to them then smiling to yourself? Who are you and what have you done to my friend?" Puck utters exasperatedly. "It wouldn't take me three guesses who you're texting with, you know."

Santana breathes deeply. Puck, her partner-in-crime ever since high school, knows her all too well. Not as good as Brittany but he can definitely see through the brunette when it comes to these kinds of things. "Fine. But I'm not doing it on purpose, okay? Can we just drop th-"

"Nope." Puck smirks as he pops the word then calls for the bartender. "Open a tab for us and put it on her, will you?" He glances at Santana who rolls her eyes at him.

"Let's go deeper into this thing." Puck adds with a wide grin.

* * *

"So.." Quinn trails off as she settles a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the coffee table and takes a seat beside Brittany on the couch.

Brittany looks back at the other blonde who's grinning from ear to ear while staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Quinn shrugs with the same grin still on her face.

The radio host nods skeptically and takes a cookie from the table. As she takes a bite, she sees Quinn still staring at her from her peripheral vision with the same expression. "Okay, Q. What is it?"

Quinn sheepishly shakes her head while taking a cookie from the plate. Brittany squints her eyes at her and raises an eyebrow. "Just spill it. Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

"No! It's just... there's something different about you nowadays. It's like, you're glowing."

"Quinn, we literally see each other everyday and you say this now?"

"You can say that it's a late discovery. Pregnancy hormones." Quinn says with a fake grin.

Brittany shakes her head and takes another bite of the cookie in her hand. "There's nothing different about me, okay?"

"I disagree. You're extra chirpy, you're glowing, and there's something about you that I can't place. You got laid, didn't you?"

Brittany's eyes widen and gives Quinn a warning look while gesturing towards Beth who looks serious in watching Cupcake Wars while sitting on the floor and munching with her own plate of cookies.

"Okay, uh… How about we change the term into.." Quinn raises both eyebrows while her hands make random movements. She glances at the television for a second then back at her friend with a smirk. " _Cupcakes_?"

Brittany chuckles and looks at Quinn in disbelief. "We're seriously gonna call _it_ that?"

Quinn raises an eyebrow at her. "Do you have any other suggestions?" The radio host just smiles at her and shrugs as she eats another cookie.

The pregnant woman grins widely and scoots closer towards her friend. "Okay, let's talk about 'cupcakes'. When the last time you had 'cupcakes'?"

"Oh. At the station, a while ago. They bought these awesome Red Velvet cupcakes from that bakery down at 11th avenue and I had like, three of-" Quinn cuts off her rambling friend.

"Britt, not that! Like, you know, _cupcakes._ " Quinn grins devilishly and Brittany finally gets it as she nods slowly. "So, when's the last time you had one?"

"W-Well, I don't really like talking abo-"

"You had cupcakes earlier, didn't you?" Quinn teases her while wiggling her eyebrows.

The host almost chokes on her cookie. "No! I did not!"

"Then when was the last time?"

"U-Uh… I don't remember. It was with Jamie, for sure." Brittany replies back wryly.

"So, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Quinn utters with a smug grin.

"Yeah. But I'm not rea-"

"I'm just curious, Britt. How is it like? You know, having cupcakes with another girl?"

Brittany laughs in her friend's face. This is just beyond funny for her because she and Quinn don't really talk about sex that much. Oh well. Might as well entertain herself. "Uhmm.. Well, it's awesome. It's just.. Uh.." She stops and glances at Beth who's attention is still glued to the screen. "..a _different_ kind of dessert but still great. A lot better, actually. I mean, I haven't had cupcakes with a guy yet but I assume so."

"Wait. Exactly how great?"

"Well, cupcakes with another girl requires a different…" Brittany does random gestures with her hand while thinking. "... _Baking technique_. But since you're both girls you know the- uh.. _exact measurements_ that the other wants for good cupcakes, so it's just really amazing. Really awesome cupcakes." Brittany smirks, proud of herself for coming up with such a smart analogy.

Quinn nods, seemingly serious with the talk they're having. "How about when you eat the _frosting_? Isn't it, I don't know, itchy on the nose?"

"Quinn!" Brittany exclaims as she blushes bigtime.

"What? I'm really curious. So?" Quinn replies as she motions for her friend to continue.

Brittany sighs and slaps a hand on her forehead for a second before turning back to Quinn. "The frosting is wonderful. It's one of the best assets of having cupcakes with a girl. Like I said, since we're both girls, we know the exact measurements on how to uh.." Brittany pauses and shakes her head. "Well, there ain't no better way to put it, so, yeah. We girls know the best way on how to eat frosting and we do it good."

Quinn smirks in amusement. "Ooh.. Darn. I know I should have experimented having cupcakes with another girl back in college."

Brittany rolls her eyes yet again and decides to disregard Quinn's chuckling.

"So, have you ever had cupcakes with Santana?" Quinn quips with a cheeky grin after laughing her heart out.

Brittany looks back at her with a surprised face. "What?! No! Why would we- What are you-"

"I'm just asking! Gosh. No need to be defensive. It's just cupcakes." Quinn tries to hold back her laughter.

"No, we haven't. We're best friends, Q." Brittany says, trying to be cool about it.

"Yeah. Shame." The pregnant woman mutters under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, B." Quinn stares at Brittany as she happily gobbles up another cookie while humming to herself but this time, it's as if she's thinking behind that cool façade. She smirks to herself when a thought comes up in her mind.

"Hey, Britt?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Pierce looks at her with a wide smile. A little too wide as Quinn sees right through it. She turns to her daughter who's sitting by the floor. "Honey, can you go watch Thomas and Friends inside Mommy and Daddy's bedroom, please? You can bring your cookies too but don't make a mess on the bed, alright? Mommy and Aunt Britty needs to talk about grown-up stuff."

Beth nods and smiles widely while she slowly stands up while Brittany looks at Quinn curiously as she wonders what her friend is up to. Beth grabs her plate of cookies then turns to give her mother and Aunt Britty a kiss before happily skipping away.

 _Phase 2 will now commence_ , Quinn thinks. "Let's move past cupcakes, B. Have you ever had feelings for Santana?" She adds with a big smirk on her face.

* * *

"Why are you making a big deal out of this? I told you alrea-" Santana voices out before getting cut off by Puck.

"I'm not. I'm just explaining to you the other side of the story that you're consciously trying to avoid." Puck explains as he hands a tipsy and semi-drunk Santana her sixth or seventh beer of the night.

The brunette sighs and takes a quick swig of her beer. "Fine. I'll listen for a minute. 60 seconds or something."

"Here's the thing, Lopez. You and Brittany have this unexplained chemistry. I mean, I've seen you with lots of girls before and Brittany's dated a few ones as well but seriously, there's nothing that compares to what the two of you have. Add the fact that you're not even a real couple and anyone who can see will think it's just crazy to believe that you've never even tried dating each other." Puck pauses and chuckles at his own statement. "Maybe this pretending-to-be-Jamie thing is actually an accidental catalyst for the two of you to be finally together. We've seen how you girls look at each other when the other isn't looking, Santana. The both of you have been running blind like clueless chicks who have their soulmate right in front of them since high school, so don't tell me I don't know shit."

"You don't know shit, Dr. Phil." Santana teases.

Puck rolls his eyes and gulps down his beer. "Seriously. What's stopping you from pursuing Brittany? Are you seriously saying you've never had actual feelings for her?"

"I told you, Noah. Brittany and I have been best friends since high school. We can't ruin that. And no, I've never had romantic feelings for Brittany." _I think,_ Santana tells herself.

"I don't believe that. Besides, wouldn't that be a plus? You actually know each other from head to toe and inside out. I can guarantee you that no one knows you better, even yourself, than Brittany. And she's the same with you. I think that's pretty awesome."

"You married your high school sweetheart! I don't think you have jurisdiction on that matter."

"I'm a sports journalist not Quinn the lawyer. Stop lawyering me, bitch." Puck nudges the brunette who only rolls her eyes in response. "Look, just think about it. Brittany's an amazing girl and you're not so bad yourself when you're not moody. I have my money on the both of you ending up together in the end. I'm calling it."

Santana laughs loudly in his face. "Who are you, Quinn? Look, I'm drunk, tired, and will probably never remember this conversation tomorrow or ever. I'm even having a hard time comprehending shit right now. So, yeah. Whatever makes you happy, shithead."

Puck sighs, girl talk's over and it's time to go home before Santana cries like a little bitch which she always does when she's had one too many drinks. "Yeah, yeah. Time to go home." Puck motions for the bill and turns to Santana with a smirk. "This one's on you since you're loaded after getting that big ass bonus."

"Fine." Santana huffs when the bill is handed her way shortly after.

"Cool. Imma go pee before we go." Puck quips and receives a disgusted look from his friend.

Santana, the drunk that she is, ponders about her conversation with Puck for a moment. Puckerman does make a few good points, now that she thinks about it. Maybe it's only her who's having second thoughts about the whole thing. Maybe Brittany's open to the idea. But no. Well, Santana's never really said it out loud before. The fear and feeling of being conflicted about something.

"What if we don't work out? I'll lose her. I can't exist without her." She mutters under her breath, like a voiceover that's thought aloud in all her wasted and drunk existence.

"Who are you talking to?" A sultry voice declares behind her.

Santana jumps in surprise upon hearing the voice. Who the fuck said that? She looks to her left and see no one. She looks to her right and see the bartender minding his own business until he must have felt Santana looking at him for almost a moment now in which he replies by staring back at her with a deadpan stare.

"Did you hear that?" Santana blurts out drunkenly.

"Hear what?" The bartender replies with a semi-annoyed tone.

"Someone just said something."

Mr. Bartender shakes his head and ignores the girl. "Drunk chicks." He remarks then wordlessly walks away after giving back the brunette's card.

"Your job description includes listening to me, old man!" Santana exclaims and takes a long drag of her beer.

"I think that's enough alcohol for you, already." The voice calls out for the second time.

Santana freezes again. She looks quickly to her right and left then see no one. So, she does a logical thing that any drunk person will do in this situation. In all her seriousness, Santana looks up at the ceiling.

"God, is that you?"

The sultry voice laughs out loud. "I'm not God."

Santana puts a hand to her chest in shock. She rethinks the whole scenario and goes on to do the second logical thing when you're drunk. She looks down at the floor.

"Oh shit. It's coming from Hell!"

Suddenly, a familiar woman coming from behind Santana walks towards in front to face her.

"Jamie."

Then, Santana wasn't so drunk anymore.

"Dani?" She exclaims, suddenly sober now.

"You're pretty funny when you're drunk." Dani quips with a smirk as she takes a step forward, invading Santana's personal space.

"I-I.. Uh.." The brunette gulps loudly. "What are you doing here?"

"I could say the same for you. Are you alone or is Brittany with you?"

"N-No, I-"

"Oh. That's good. No competition around." Dani voices out and takes another step forward then gets up in Santana's face.

"Boy, you're not really into wasting time, huh."

"I don't believe in passing up chances. At least now I get you all to myself and say what's on my mind, like how seriously hot and sexy you are. Maybe I'll even show you." She adds with a devilish grin and slowly leans towards the brunette.

"Stop." Santana tells her and takes a step back, even pushing the other girl. "Look, stop whatever the hell it is that you're doing. I-I'm engaged."

Dani disregards her statement and smirks once again. "I don't mind, if you don't."

Woah there. Santana cannot believe this girl. Like seriously. "I'm not interested, Dani."

"Oh, are you really?" Dani comments and grabs Santana's beer then gulps it down, leaving the brunette a little speechless.

"Hey, Lezpez! You are not going to believe what I saw back at the-" Puck shouts but is immediately cut off by Santana who's glaring hard at him and subtly motions at the mystery girl in front of her.

"Noah!" Santana fills in her friend's questioning look. "This is Dani, Brittany's coworker at the station. She came by to say hello to Jamie. You know, me." She adds and throws Puck a knowing look.

He looks back and forth at both ladies for a moment. Then he gets it. "Oh! Dani! Brittany's coworker. Brittany who's engaged to Jamie. You, the one and only Jamie!" He chimes in nervously with a fake grin.

Huh.

It's now Dani's turn to look back and forth between the two, who both look like idiots while having a silent conversation that only they can understand. _Bunch of weirdos_ , Dani thinks.

"And who is this?" The radio host inquires with a bored look.

"He's Noah. One of my best friends." Santana chimes in, looking like a crack addict with how jumpy she is.

"Yeah, and Jamie and I are now leaving." Puck voices out and proceeds to drag Santana away by the hand.

"Wait!" Dani calls out but to no avail.

"Bye Donny!" Puck speaks for the both of them.

"It's Dani!"

"Don't care!" He responds without even looking back, leaving an infuriated Dani behind.

Soon enough, they're outside and trying to catch their breaths from the stressful ordeal inside.

"What the hell was that?" Puck exclaims with a hard tone.

"Look, dude. I don't know how that happened but let's just get out of here before it gets any worse."

Puck takes a deep breath and rests both hands on his waist. "That was so freaking close."

"I know. We almost got caught." Santana sighs.

"Shit. I think she's coming out of the bar. Run!" Puck declares and in a moment of panic, they do so. "Last one to get back at the apartment is gay!" He adds as he outruns the brunette.

"Fucking shit!"

* * *

"No!" Brittany instantly replies loudly which takes Quinn aback. "I-I mean, no. What- No! I have never had feelings for Santana."

"Okay." Quinn nods, just going along with it. "Well, why not?"

The question makes Brittany's ears perk up as she thinks about it for a second. Actually, why not? She utters and comes up with the obvious answer in her mind. "Because we've been friends for the longest time."

"So?"

"What do you mean by 'so', Q?" Brittany's eyebrows scrunch up, trying to avoid eye contact with Quinn.

"Is that the only reason? Because the way everyone sees it, it's a wonder the both of you are not a couple yet. B, you're single, she's single. You've got crazy chemistry. Your personalities jive. Both of you have stable jobs. My daughter loves the idea of you girls being together. You already act like a couple more than anyone we know. So, if friendship is the only reason why you're not together, then maybe you're looking at it the wrong way."

Brittany looks down as she tries to absorb everything that Quinn said. Maybe her friend's right but she can't think of it too much. "Santana and I can't be together. She's my best friend in the entire world. She gets me like no one else. If we-" Brittany bites her lip and sighs deeply.

"What if we fail at being an actual couple? We suck at relationships, I think that's obvious enough. But if it ends badly, not only have I lost my chance on a relationship with her but I'll lose my best friend too. I don't know what I'd do without her in my life. I won't be able to function without her, Q. We all know that." Brittany pauses. "E-even if I do start to have feelings for her, I can't act on it because I don't want to know what would happen between us if it doesn't work out. I honestly don't want to know at all."

Quinn nods and places a hand on her friend's knees. "Britt, are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

Brittany freezes instantly at the question and it clearly shows on her face. She tries to muster up a reply but comes up short. She looks up to see Quinn grinning widely, giving her a knowing look which tells her that saying something will never make Quinn think otherwise again. In short, she's fucked.

"I-I.. Uh.."

The door to the apartment opens, unveiling Santana who's wearing a blue leather jacket and skinny black jeans and Puck in a plain gray shirt and jeans. Quinn and Brittany look up from their spot and Santana immediately catches her best friend's gaze.

"Hey, ladies." The brunette utters while trying to catch her breath and removing her jacket at the same time to unveil a white tank top before settling beside Brittany on the couch. Basically, leaving no distance between her and the blonde as she puts her arm a few inches behind Brittany unconsciously, gluing their bodies together like it's the most normal thing. It actually is normal for them but nevertheless makes Puck and Quinn do a quick, curious glance at each other.

"Wait. Why do guys look like you've just ran a marathon?" Quinn utters while she looks at her husband and friend.

"Well, we uh.. had a bet and ran into someone.." Santana trails off and turns to Puck for some assistance.

"Yeah.. That Dolly chick." Puck fills in. "Girl was at the bar getting her flirt on with JLo here. And yeah, Santana's still gay for losing the bet." He adds and Santana just rolls her eyes at him.

Brittany squints her eyes at her best friend and somehow feels uneasy. "You had a run in with Dani and flirted with her?"

"What? No! I mean, we ran into her but I certainly didn't flirt with her. For all I know I was having a conversation with God in all my drunken glory. I can't even remember my conversation with Dani. Plus, I was in full Jamie mode." Santana rambles on as she throws a hard glare at Puck who shrugs.

Brittany pouts involuntarily. "Oh. Okay." She says but with a tone Santana's not exactly sure about. Puck and Quinn share another look with a hint of mischief.

"Britt, I swear nothing happened to screw the Jamie thing up."

Brittany forces a smile and nods. Trying to act normal about everything. "Yeah. I know, San."

Santana's eyebrows scrunch in confusion. Is she missing something here? She stares at the blonde and tries to figure out what's happening right now but comes up short. She sighs and decides to leave it be. "So, how about you girls? What were you talking about?"

"Oh.. W-We were just talking about cupcakes!" Brittany exclaims, sneaking a glance at Quinn for help.

"Yeah. All about cupcakes between us girls. How good those damn cupcakes are and eating that frosting which sometimes makes your nose itchy." Quinn quips with a big grin and receives a glare from the other blonde.

Santana and Puck looks dumbly at them, trying to figure out the sub context of their conversation but eventually let it go. Santana turns her attention to Brittany who incidentally looks back at her at the same time. Both of them not caring that their faces are just inches apart from each other.

"So, how are you?" Santana mutters, just enough for Brittany to hear as she smiles.

"A little hungry. How about you? Had a great time?" Brittany mumbles.

"Not really. Puck was his boring self and it's never the same without you. Being around you makes everything infinitely better. You know that, right babe?"

Brittany automatically breaks out into a smile. She tried hard to hide it. She freaking tried not to show it but holy cow, she can't help it.

Ugh. Santana. Santana. Santana.

This has always been her game whenever she and Brittany have a misunderstanding of some sort. This is how Brittany gets owned by having that soft spot for her best friend. She even thinks that the effect of Santana's simple words multiplied a hundred times because of having previously talked things out with Quinn a while ago.

"I heard that." Puck huffs.

"Ignore the peasant. How about we grab some Chinese before we head home? Maybe get some ice cream at that shop you've been dying to try while we're at it. Watcha think, B?"

"I'd love that." Brittany almost whispers with a cheeky grin.

Just like that, the feelings of animosity or whatever that was a while ago when she heard Dani's name is now long gone. It's Santana, of course. She knows the blonde like the back of her hand. The brunette knows her quirks and how to make her mood turn around with just a snap of a finger. Blame the butterflies in her stomach for making her ramble like a psycho.

"Great." Santana replies as she bites her lip. Both of them not noticing how close their faces are now than a minute ago as they inch closer to each other.

"Ahem.." Puck clears his throat loudly and catches both of their attention, making them snap out of it. "I hate to break this cute little live show here but don't you have to get up early tomorrow for that broadcast?"

"You trying to get rid of us, Fuckerman?" Santana sneers.

"San.." Brittany raises an eyebrow at her and the brunette rolls her eyes in reply. "Actually, we do have to go. We're driving all the way there."

Santana nods and turns her attention to the others. "Well, since you're ejecting us already. We'll get going. Don't forget the torte, babe."

"Oh yeah!" Brittany exclaims and walks towards the kitchen to get it while Santana follows her with her gaze.

"Slow down, lovergirl." Quinn comments with a smirk. Santana turns her attention at the blonde and looks at her inquisitively. "Beth! Your aunts are leaving! Come say goodbye!" Quinn adds with her stare still trained on Santana.

Shortly, a smiling Beth comes running down and bids Santana goodbye.

"Will you get me a big stuffed toy at the carnival, Aunt Tana?"

"Sure, honey. I'll get you the biggest teddy bear there is!"

"You can't even go near a clown." Puck mutters under his breath and receives a death glare from Santana.

"Don't worry, Bethy. Aunt Santana and I will get you one!" Brittany remarks upon retrieving the torte and placing it inside a dessert box.

"Aunt Britty! You need to protect Aunt Tana from the evil clowns!" Beth cries out with wide eyes as she goes to hug her.

"I will, sweetie. I'll bring back Aunt Tana safe and sound." Brittany tells her, giving a quick kiss on the cheek as she does so.

"Don't hurry!" Beth voices out, making all the adults look at each other curiously as the kid bids her aunts goodbye and run towards her room to continue watching.

"Well, we have to go now. Early day tomorrow." Santana pronounces with her attention towards the married couple.

"Alright then. You girls take care tomorrow, alright? We'll be listening." Quinn utters while hugging Brittany.

"Good luck, Jamie." Puck says with a wink directed at Santana who gives her friend the finger.

"Yeah, yeah! Goodbye now!" The brunette responds from the door as Brittany and her exit the apartment.

As soon as they hear their friends completely disappear, the married couple smirks to themselves with their eyes still directed at the front door of their apartment.

"Phase 2?" Quinn speaks out first without looking at her husband.

"Mission accomplished." Puck replies with confidence. "You?"

"Likewise."

"Awesome."

Quinn finally looks at her husband. "Now all we have to plan for is our next move."

Puck's eyes widen and grabs his wife closer to him by the waist. "I have the perfect idea. Let me tell you everything that happened a while ago at the bar..."

* * *

"So, do we have a specific plan for today?" Santana asks as they alight from the car they arrived in not more than a minute ago. After a few hours of driving, they're finally at Staten Island for Dalton Radio's anniversary event.

Brittany thinks about it for a second as she fetches the chocolate torte from the backseat before turning her attention towards the brunette. "Well, not really. There's the live broadcast and several interviews. Just be on your feet, I guess. You can never know with these people in this kind of environment."

"Alright then. So, our usual Jamie and Britt thing then be on our feet then."

"Yep, that's about it. Ready, San?"

Santana grabs the blonde's hand then slowly inserts the 'engagement ring' on Brittany's finger while maintaining eye contact, making Brittany have goosebumps all over her body with how Santana's looking at her with the sexiest eyes ever. "Can't forget the ring now, Britt." Santana adds and winks at the blonde. Brittany's pretty sure that her heart stopped for a second there for unknown reasons. And if that's not enough, Santana intertwines her fingers with that of Brittany's and they proceed to walk hand-in-hand. The latter disregards the butterflies by acting confident and tightens the grip as they walk towards the event center.

About the carnival thing, well true enough, the place looks like a legit carnival. Well, they're in Staten Island, after all. The whole place looks like something out of a Disney movie or something. From the carousel, entertainers, and games from every side which all envelops the stage in the middle of the whole event together with hundreds of people wandering around and sightseeing while waiting for the show to start.

"Look, San. The ferris wheel's amazing!"

Santana glances at Brittany, more than she should have actually. Well, after a moment, it's now probably bordering on creepy. She clears her throat and looks towards where Brittany's pointing and admires it all the same.

"Yeah. It's pretty great. Maybe we should ride the carousel and ferris wheel later."

Brittany grins excitedly. "Really?"

Santana sticks out her bottom lip and nods. "Why not? We're here so might as well enjoy it."

"Jamie!" A sultry voice catches both of their attention from the side. They turn to see Dani, together with Burt and Carole, approaching them with big smiles. Well, the Hummels' looks genuinely happy to see them.

"Dani." Santana states with a bored voice. Which reminds her that she hasn't really told Brittany the whole story about her run in with Dani last night. Well, she honestly can't recall every detail. Plus, it probably doesn't even matter since her best friend never mentioned anything about it anymore and seems seriously uninterested on the matter. So, yeah. It's not a big deal so the best thing to do is let it go.

"Burt, Carole. So nice to see you again!" Santana follows almost instantly, her arms automatically and unconsciously snaking behind Brittany's waist. The blonde catches her breath at the last second, a bit surprised by Santana's sudden action.

"Jamie and Brittany! My favorite couple!" Carole quips and engulfs the both of them in a big hug.

"It's always a pleasure to see the both of you. Congratulations on the engagement again." Burt chimes in with a big grin. The couple nods in reply while returning the smile.

"By the way, this is the torte you've asked us to bring." Brittany utters and hands the dessert over to an excited Carole.

"Oh gosh! I'm like a kid on Christmas day right now! Thank you, ladies."

"No problem. Here's the recipe as well." Santana speaks and hands over an envelope which the older woman takes without any second thoughts.

"You've just made her the happiest woman in this event today." Burt says and the four of them laugh in agreement. "Well, we have to go say hello to the board and other people too. Plus, my wife will want to hide this magical torte from everyone. Goodluck with the show and we'll see you ladies later!"

"We'll be watching from the wings." Carole states before excusing themselves.

As soon as the Hummels disappear, Dani clears her throat loudly which makes Brittany and Santana turn their attention to her.

"Yes?" Santana speaks up for the both of them with the same bored expression a while ago.

"It's so nice to see you again, Jamie. Well, not like it's been that long." Dani tells her with a flirty tone. _Is she trying to pull off something here again?_ Santana thinks.

"You mean Brittany and I, right?"

Dani laughs in their faces and leans towards Santana while deliberately ignoring Brittany. "No, just you."

She doesn't know what came over her. She doesn't even know why she did it but what Brittany's sure about is that she's been wanting to this for quite some time now for reasons completely unknown to her.

"Baby, let's go. I'm horny."

Woah there.

Santana and Dani's head instantly turn to face a blushing red Brittany in record speed with a look of shock and disbelief at the same time. The blonde looks down in embarrassment but remembers that if she wants to own Dani the bitch, she needs to act confident and rule this conversation. Alright. That, she will.

"Well?" Brittany raises her eyebrow at Santana and gives her an impatient look which catches the brunette off guard.

"U-Uh.. Y-Yeah, babe. Okay." Santana utters, not exactly sure how to go about the situation. Brittany turns to face Dani one last time with a big smirk and a look of triumph.

"Well, you have a good day now, Dani. Goodluck later."

Dani's surprised and pissed off face slowly turns to that of a smirk. She slowly takes a step forward then crosses her arms. "Actually, you're the one who's going to need all the help you can get. Pray hard, Brittany." She declares before walking away while doing an evil laugh.

"Okay. What the hell was that?" Santana remarks as she glares at Brittany.

The blonde follows Dani with her gaze for a few seconds. "I've no idea, actually. But don't you think that was a bit sketchy? Like there's something behind those words."

"Not that!" Santana exclaims. "I'm talking about the horny thing you just pulled off."

"Oh. That." Brittany replies with a slow nod. "Well, she wasn't being very nice, wasn't she?" She adds with a fake grin while Santana, who's brain is still initializing because of her friend's actions a moment ago, just shakes her head in disbelief.

"Brittany! Jamie!" A voice calls out from behind them. They turn around to see Blaine in his usual suit and bowtie running towards them with a sigh of relief. "Thank God I found you. We've just finished setting up the set for your broadcast and the show's about to start. Are you good to go?"

The blonde only shrugs in reply. "Uhmm.. Yeah?"

"Good!" Blaine exclaims as he clasps his hands together then motions both women to walk towards a tent which moonlights as a dressing room of some sort. "Now, let's go and prep you ladies for the show."

Now it's Santana's turn to be surprised. "W-What? I'm going in too?"

"Of course, Jamie. People are so excited to see you after your engagement. They can't get enough of you two." Blaine quips. "By the way, this is probably a last minute thing but you really won't be doing a live broadcast until after we're done with the first part, Brittany."

"What first part? What are you talking about?" Brittany's eyebrows scrunch in confusion as she's being thrown to have someone retouch her make-up and fix her hair, like Santana in the corner who's sharing the same questioning look.

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, the show is about to start in five minutes. Please take your seats."_ The announcer's voice echoes through the huge speakers surrounding the place.

"Well, we decided to just go on with the question and answer thing first then do the broadcast after. I'll be doing the questioning and you guys are going to answer them just like I said yesterday." Blaine comments nonchalantly.

"What?! What do you mean, Blaine? I don't understand what's happening here." Brittany almost shouts with a hard tone.

"Calm down, babe." Santana chimes in with a worried look. Both of them hear a lot of noise outside from excited people who are all waiting for the show to start.

"I thought Dani filled you in? She volunteered to relay the information for you along with the questions sheet yesterday." Blaine replies with confusion.

Brittany and Santana share a look and groan at the same time upon realizing what just happened after putting two and two together. So, that must be what Dani meant a while ago. "Damn that sly little bi-" Santana exclaims but gets cut off by Brittany.

"Oh. I-I must have forgotten." Brittany replies while looking down at the floor, receiving a curious look from the brunette.

Blaine nods and takes a peek behind the dressing room's curtain. "Okay. We're on in about 90 seconds. Goodluck out there." He adds one last time before leaving the tent.

As soon as everyone's out of sight, Santana blows up almost instantly.

"Why did you tell him that? Dani never gave us anything nor told us about doing the show together and all that crap!"

"We can't do anything about it now, can we? We just have to go with the flow of whatever will be thrown our way." Brittany says in a defeated tone.

"She's doing all of this on purpose to trip you up and get that syndication, B! This is sabotage!"

"Do you think I'm not aware of that, San?!" Brittany responds with a hard tone, taking Santana aback by the sudden change in her best friend. "I am more than aware of what she's doing but we can't cry foul and whine just because the competition hits us like that."

Santana looks down, feeling helpless. "But what are we gonna do, Britt? We haven't even practiced answering questions about this 'thing' we're doing. We can't let Dani get away with this."

"No, we won't! This is the last straw and I'm done with being nice."

Brittany rests her left hand on her waist while pinching her nose with the other while thinking of a solution to this fucked up situation. "Let's just go about this normally, okay? Don't panic. Just act like this is all normal and when they ask us something we're blanking on, let's get the answers from our own experience or something."

"Okay." Santana sighs deeply then turns to look at a worried Brittany. The look in her best friend's eyes is something she's not really accustomed to because knowing the blonde, she's always got something under control and is easily the calmest person in a group over unexpected situations. She approaches Brittany and squeezes her hand. "Don't worry about a thing, Britt. Trust me and I promise you we'll get through this."

Brittany stares into the brunette's eyes and sees the sincerity behind it. She finally breaks out into a small smile and nods her head slowly. "I trust you, San." The brunette returns the smile and as if on auto-pilot, she raises Brittany's hand and kisses it, surprising the blonde and actually making her heart skip a beat.

"S-San.."

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dalton Radio's anniversary show right here at the great Staten Island! I'm Blaine Anderson, Dalton's station manager and I will be your host for today.."_ Blaine's voice echoes throughout the place and interrupts the moment between the two women. It effectively gets them out of their trance as they break apart and scurry to check themselves out from the big-ass mirror in the dressing room. Brittany sneaks a glance towards Santana who looks absolutely stunning in an off shoulder, knee length, lace little black dress that shows off her figure in an amazing way and partnered with awesome red heels. It's actually a pretty semi-casual attire but Santana's beauty gives it an elevated look. Brittany looks at herself in the mirror one last time and fixes her pale yellow sundress before being dragged by Santana out of the tent without any words.

 _"..So, on with the program! Our first broadcast is someone you know all too well. She's Dalton Radio's resident relationship expert and host of the critically-acclaimed radio show, 'Romantically Speaking'. But for today's special event, we have something special for everyone.."_

Brittany instantly feels the panic and fear settle in her nerves when the audience starts to cheer. It's the first time she will ever do the show in such a large audience and even takes a few deep breaths that does nothing to calm her at all. She even looks down at her left hand to see it shaking like crazy out of nervousness.

"Hey.." Brittany hears Santana's soft voice beside her and looks up to see the girl smiling sweetly at her. Like the mind-reader that Santana is when it comes to Brittany, she slowly intertwines her fingers with that of the blonde's and stares back into those ocean blue eyes.

"I got you, babe."

Santana utters with that stunning smile Brittany's so fond of. And just like that, Brittany knows everything will be alright with Santana by her side.

 _"..So, let's call on to the stage, the adoring, newly engaged couple, Brittany Pierce and her fiancée, Jamie!"_ Blaine declares and everyone cheers louder this time as both women prepare themselves and proceed to climb the stairs to the stage, waving and putting on a show for everyone.

Showtime, bitches.

* * *

 **Thoughts? :)**

 **Sorry for the cliffhanger and if it's a little long. It was supposed to cover the whole live broadcast and whatnot but I decided to just split it into two chapters so I won't miss anything out and rush things. I'll get on it with it as soon as I'm done with the latest chapter of Chasing Pavements.**

 ***Anyway, if you do have the time, please check out my new story entitled "Something Like Black Magic". I made it after realizing that one way for me to get out of a slump is by writing a new story. So, there it is. Hope you guys like it! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you for everything!**

 ***Will now be updating this story regularly every other Thursday from now on! :)**

* * *

Santana cannot believe what's happening right now.

She prides in herself for being quick on her feet and always the one to stay calm in certain situations. She loves challenges and sees it as nothing more than a little obstacle to get something rewarding. She thrives under pressure. Hell, she lives in it. Moreover, she's sure of who she is. She knows what she's capable of. That's probably why she's good at her job and is at the top of the corporate ladder.

But that's not the case here. This little fucker. This little challenge. It's certainly trying to make her think twice about everything she's come to know about herself.

Probably because she knows nothing about 'herself' right now.

"Jamie!" Gay Blaine's voice echoes through the speakers. Santana snaps out of it and tries to get a hold of herself on the bar stool while sending a little Hail Mary up there to help her and Brittany survive this. "So, how are you doing?" He adds.

Santana smiles sweetly at him. If there's anything she's remotely proud of in high school, it's being in Glee club and taking that awesome semi-lead in West Side story. And yes, she slayed 'America'. "I'm doing good. Thank you for asking."

"Awesome. How's the engagement been so far?"

"W-Well.." Santana glances beside her and sees Brittany somewhat encouraging her to answer how she sees fit. "It's been amazing. We've never been so happy right now, actually." She adds with a faux grin and blinking eyes thrown towards Brittany.

Instantly, the audience eats everything up with 'oohs' and 'aahs' coming from all directions. They're both pretty sure that this kind of audience reaction will be a consistent occurrence for the rest of this interview.

"You gotta help me out here, B." Santana adds through her fake grin as she pushes her microphone away from earshot for a second. Brittany nods, not entirely sure if she'll laugh at her friend's cute expression or just because Santana's being adorable. Basically, she looks like a kid that's done something bad and feels guilty about it. How freaking cute is that.

"So, I have a few questions here that our audience would like to know..." Blaine trails off without looking at them. They take a deep breath as they embrace the incoming onslaught of mass destruction. "For starters, how did you girls meet, Jamie?" He adds and turns to Santana.

"Oh. U-Uh..." The brunette forces a grin and turns to Brittany for a second with wide eyes, crying for help. "W-well, we met under romantic circumstances, of course. Right, Britt?" She mentions with faux confidence.

"It was at a Blockbuster, actually." Brittany chimes in and Santana almost wants to shrink and disappear forever. "But it was surely under romantic circumstances because as I was about to rent the last copy of 'Love, Actually', Jamie here, fought me for it. Long story short, she let me have the copy and I asked her out right there." She pauses and gestures for Santana to say or do something.

"Y-Yeah. T-Totally romantic. I fight my rent wars like how I fight for my woman." Santana replies with a little panic in her and quickly glances at Brittany to see her mouthing a big 'no' while shaking her head.

"How about that, ladies and gentlemen?" Blaine declares and the crowd cheers for them. "Another question here is, if the both of you were to have a dream wedding, what would it be?" He adds and turns to Santana again.

"Oh. Well, I don't really see myself getting married at all-" Santana replies nonchalantly but suddenly feels a sharp pain coming from her foot. She looks at her right to see Brittany glaring back at her with owl eyes.

Oh. Right. She forgot that she's Jamie for a while back there.

"U-Uh... M-Married at all l-like those celebrities out there with the public thing." Santana utters and turns to see Brittany sighing with a nod. "We'd prefer that the wedding be private somewhere on a beach since that's how we are." _Not even fucking close,_ Santana thinks.

Blaine nods. "And you've gotten this a lot but everybody here wants to know, when's the wedding?"

"We haven't really set a date yet but we're banking on doing it by June. A few months from now." Brittany speaks out for the both of them and subtly nudges for Santana to take over.

"Y-Yeah. We've always talked about how June is the best month for weddings. I mean, a lot of couples do get married on that month then not long after be separated by-"

"Death." Brittany cuts Santana's rambling off and gives the girl a look before turning back to a slightly confused looking Blaine. "Till Death do us part, right?" She adds while holding on to her microphone with a killer grip and sighing after when the crowd seemingly agrees with her. Nice save, alright.

Blaine nods happily, seemingly oblivious to their distress. What an awesome host he is, right? Freaking awesome. "So, like what I said earlier, we'll be moving on to the first part of the show. A little game to start it off!" He exclaims and holds out two tennis racket shaped cardboards to each of them with the words "I HAVE" on one, and "I HAVE NEVER" with the other. As soon as they realize what's about to happen, a little internal panic ensues.

Santana literally turns a little pale. It almost makes Brittany chuckle because she didn't know Hispanic people could turn into that shade but then again, she's probably sporting the same color.

"Never have I ever!" Blaine declares and Santana almost punches him in the face for that when everyone cheers so loud that she thinks she might go deaf by the end of this broadcast. Oh fuck. She almost forgot that this is live and the fact that she's 'Jamie' right now. The Puckermans are listening, for sure. Plus, she can see a smirking Dani seated with the Hummels from the other side, probably rejoicing that her plan of sabotaging Brittany is seemingly working. But nope, this can't happen. She sighs deeply and gathers herself. She can't let this faze her.

While Blaine goes on about the rules that no one freaking cares about, Brittany tries to calm down a little and looks back on what she and Santana agreed on. Which is, to just go with the flow of everything and draw from their own experiences if the situation calls for it. She can't let Dani win. She's not gonna back down at this stage. She ain't no quitter.

"So, time to turn up the heat and spice things up, ladies.." Warbler pauses and grins at them while holding his own cardboard with the other. Oh right. Of course he had to play this game too. Anyway. "First one… Never have I ever had a one night stand."

Woah. So, no vanilla question first? No 'never have I ever done something romantic for someone'? Nothing like that? They had to go straight to the real deal before the foreplay. Oh god. A man probably came up with these 'never have I ever' statements.

For Brittany, this one is a 'I have never'. It's Santana who she's worried about and she's right to do just that because for the brunette, this is a no brainer about her. But what about the real Jamie? Santana thinks that the girl hasn't had one because honestly, she's kind of a loser in her eyes. Freaking home girl once told her that she dated a classical violinist for six months who said that she wanted to wait until marriage. Come on now. If it were Santana she'd be raising the 'I have' cardboard in a fucking heartbeat.

They turn to look at each other for a moment and slowly raise the 'I have never' card at the same time. Santana raises both eyebrows at Brittany as she does so, asking if she's right about Jamie in which, Brittany nods with a smile.

Santana fucking called it. Pat on the back, fellas.

"Aww.. How cute is that, right?" Blaine declares and says something irrelevant that the audience cheers on. Santana brushes it off and gives Brittany a wink. Just because.

"Next question, never have I ever had sex on the first date."

What? Seriously, what is this? A horny teenager's version of never have I ever?!

Brittany bites her lip to stop herself from saying something not appropriate. It's only the second question but the questions they're throwing them are not really done with good taste. But this is show business, what can a girl do? She glances at her left to see Santana seemingly praying or something. Well, that's what it looked like for her. She whispers the answer to the question and calls for the girl's attention but Santana's not really hearing it because of the loud commotion. Instead, she just sighs and slowly holds up the 'I have never' signboard. Santana knows this very well about her, actually.

"Lord, give me strength" Santana mumbles to herself before raising the 'I have' signboard after thinking about it for a moment. What? She thought that Jamie can't be that stupid and lame at the same time, right? She and Brittany look at each other at the same moment and see that they both have different answers albeit, correct.

"Aha! Now we see a little difference on that." Blaine comments and turns to Brittany. "I bet there are a lot of people who haven't done it on the first date too." He adds with a wink that makes the blonde feel a little awkward while the audience just agrees with him.

"Said every girl I've slept with before they met me." Santana whispers nonchalantly into the microphone. Brittany immediately throws her a hard glare but thankfully no one was able to hear her friend's comment.

"Alright. Never have I ever stole something."

Santana and Brittany actually laugh at this. This one's easy for the both of them because you'd be a hypocrite if you've never stole something in your life. They all hold up the signboard 'I have' in unison.

"No! What did you girls steal?"

"I stole a dog once from my neighbor because he was being bullied by the other dogs. I returned him on the same day though." Brittany rambles innocently, gathering sympathy from the audience. Charming and stunning as fuck. "How about you?" The blonde adds while looking at her with that gorgeous smile. If it weren't for this whole situation, she would have died and gone to heaven because of her and that smile.

Oh well.

"Underwear." Santana utters with a smirk and everyone laughs their asses off. "I'm pretty sure you stole my heart too, Britt."

Just like that, Brittany instantly turns bright red from that previous whitish hue a while ago. She only needs twenty two more colors and she could pass off as part of a Crayola set. Way to turn on the romance factor, Santana.

After everyone's done gushing about what the brunette said, Blaine takes a moment to read his cards before turning back to them. "Alright, on with the show and to a new game.."

Santana sighs through gritted teeth. She somehow wishes that Anderson here would say "Never have I ever killed someone", in which she'll of course reply with, "Where's the 'not yet' or 'after the show' signboard?"

Seriously. What is this? A freaking game show marathon compiled into one?!

With the way she's bouncing off emotions right now, from being all panicky then suddenly witching to her usual, awesome confident self, she'll never know. But she's sure that she'll probably be diagnosed with something later with the rate she's going. Thankfully, Brittany tries to calm her down by squeezing her hand and reassuring her that everything will be fine.

"A little truth or dare, anyone?" He smugly says and everyone roots for them. Here we go. "You will each only have one truth to spare so use it wisely. Okay, who goes first?"

Both women turn to face one another at the same time, using their seemingly telepathic powers that could only have been perfected through years of friendship. In the end, they both decide that Brittany should go first, signaling Blaine in the process.

"Brittany, truth or dare?" Blaine utters with a smirk and everyone in the audience eggs her on to choose dare. She's tempted but then again, a little suspense is needed.

"Truth." She replies, much to everyone's disappointment.

"Alright then. Who said 'I love you' first?"

Santana's eyes widen. Uh-oh. If all the incoming questions are of the same nature as this, well, fuck, because they're kind of fucked if that's the case.

"W-Well.." Brittany trails off and sneaks a glance at Santana, asking for a little back up. "I did, actually." She continues and Santana swears that her heart jumped a little for reasons she's not completely sure of.

"I'm sure everyone wants to know the story behind that, right folks?" Blaine follows up as the crowd answers in the positive.

Santana looks at Brittany who's hesitating to answer the question. Is there something she's not telling her or is it one of those things that she'd like to actually keep to herself? Whatever it is, Santana's crazy curious about it.

For Brittany though, maybe it's the fact that she feels a little off about telling the whole world how she and her ex fell in love or the fact that her best friend, who she seemingly has feelings for and _actually_ pretending to be her ex at the moment, is right beside her. Either way, she's trying hard to convince herself that the reason is the latter.

"I believe it was Christmas Eve." Brittany finally says after a moment, without emotion nor batting an eyelid. "We were spending Christmas with my friends in New York and it just happened while we're cuddled up in front of the fire."

Oh.

Santana feels like someone just pricked her heart with a needle. She actually remembers that moment because she was sitting on the other couch beside them. Kind of eavesdropping while playing with Beth. She was nonchalant about it back then, maybe even the slightest happy that her best friend had fallen in love with someone who feels the same way. But now, she's not entirely sure why she suddenly feels the opposite about the whole thing.

The brunette snaps out of it. How ironic is it that she's trying to portray someone who is one way or another her rival for Brittany's affection? Wait. No, that can't be right. There is no rival because she and Brittany aren't a thing. She sighs and turns her attention to the smiling audience and return the gesture. Or tried to.

"I think we have time for one more question.." Blaine utters as Will signals him to do one more before finishing the segment. "So, Jamie. Truth or dare?"

It may be the feeling of wanting to prove herself for some reason or probably the plain desire to be seen as the better person in Brittany's eyes, but since there's no script at all between them, she decides to just wing it. Hell, Santana isn't one to back down from a challenge. She's gonna own this.

"Dare."

Blaine smirks and draws from a box containing supposedly various ''Truths' and 'Dares'. "Here we go. Sing for your partner."

"What?" Both women utter in unison and turn to look at each other in a haste.

"That's what it says. Besides, Jamie here is a great singer, right?" Blaine shrugs and they groan out loud. Granted, Santana can sing but it's kind of been a long time. It's been probably years when she's sung in front of a live audience like this. Well, that is if you consider a karaoke bar a live audience. "Come on now, Jamie!" Blaine adds and everyone else does so.

She looks beside her and sees Brittany smiling nervously at her. "If you don't wanna do it, it's fine."

Santana doesn't even hesitate one bit as she smirks back. "Nah, let's show them how it's done."

She turns to the audience and thinks for a second on how to address them. "Alright then. But just a tiny bit, okay? We don't want Britt's legs here turning into jelly." The brunette adds and swears that she saw Brittany turn bright red all over her face and ears for a second there while the audience screams in adoration.

Santana smiles to herself then gets up from the bar stool to face Brittany and grab her hand, making everyone almost go crazy. Wow. She's liking this. She feels so in control and- Ahem. Not rated PG. She starts singing a few words to 'Can't take my eyes off of you' by Frank Sinatra because if she's going to be cheesy, might as well go all out. She smirks to herself when Brittany tries hard to hide the blush settling on her cheeks.

Brittany, on the hand, well, let's just say that the struggle is _very_ , _very_ real for her. She has heard Santana sing countless times before. Whether it be at a karaoke bar, during downtime, or just the brunette singing for Beth, she's heard it all before. Or that's what she thought. Because now, with the audience melting by listening to Santana's raspy voice serenading her like this plus the fact that her best friend is staring and smirking at her, probably knowing that she's under her spell, she's not so sure anymore. Not sure at all.

"Wow. Now, that is something!" Blaine's voice isn't almost heard throughout the whole place because of the deafening crowd cheering after Santana has finished serenading Brittany.

Brittany tries to gather herself for a minute, unable to look at the brunette who she can see is smirking through her peripheral vision.

"You okay?" Santana leans closer to her and mumbles under her breath.

"Y-Yeah. I-It's h-hot." Brittany stutters and waves a hand in disregard. "I-I mean, it's a little hot here on stage. Don't they have a fan here or something?"

Santana chuckles and sees Will signaling the three of them to wrap it up from the other side of the stage. Blaine nods and shares a knowing look with both women who nod in acknowledgment.

"It has been a blast but unfortunately, we have to say goodbye for now. So, on behalf of the station, I would like to thank you Jamie for your special participation today. It's been amazing having you here." He exclaims and the crowd applauses. "But before we proceed with the live broadcast of Romantically Speaking, how about a little picture for the records?"

They face one another and smile. Why not? It's just a picture. No big deal.

Both women agree and position themselves in the middle of the stage. Shortly, a photographer follows and stands in front of them to take their picture. They are actually doing a pretty good job of acting like a real couple so far. Or that's what they thought.

"Uh... Sorry. But would you mind…" The photographer utters as he motions for them to stand closer to each other.

They stare at the other for a second, throw in a little awkwardness in there too for some reason. However, Brittany brushes it off with a smile and grabs Santana by the waist then pulls her closer unannounced, surprising the brunette a little. The blonde almost chuckles at how her friend is acting right now since it's one of those rare times that she's seen Santana flustered.

A few snaps later, the sudden chanting of the audience catches them off-guard. It wasn't until Blaine says something about a kiss that they freeze in their place and finally get it.

Fuck. It's just a picture, they said. It's not a big deal, they said.

Santana looks in panic at Brittany. "What do we do?"

Brittany turns to the audience for a second, noticing that the cheers are getting louder now. So, instead of stalling any further, she just shrugs and proceeds to kiss Santana quickly. On the cheek. In the most awkward fashion.

The freaking cheek, for crying out loud.

Almost instantly, the crowd erupts in disappointment and chants for another kiss. Brittany awkwardly forces a grin while Santana's blinking at nothing in particular and gritting her teeth.

"Aww... Come on, girls. You can do better than that." Blaine exclaims and Santana swears that there is nothing more she'd want to do but punch the hell out of Gay Warbler here. Brittany bites her lip, still thinking about what to do in the situation at hand. She glances at Will and sees him raising both eyebrows at her, as if motioning for her to do something about it and fast.

"Let's do it." The words softly come out of Santana's mouth, making Brittany turn her head almost instantly.

"W-What was that?"

"It couldn't hurt, right? And not to boast or anything, but they say I'm a good kisser. A great one at that, actually." Santana replies with a smirk, adding a little wink that makes the blonde chuckle.

Give it to Santana for lightening up the situation.

Brittany tries hard not to grin too much and have the butterflies in her stomach go into overdrive. So, instead of doing anything to embarrass herself even further, she just nods and lets Santana pull her closer. She stares into those brown eyes and allows herself to be immersed in them. The blonde thinks that it's actually the perfect contrast to her own blue eyes and she's pretty sure that the view in front of her is something that will carry on to her dreams later at night.

They lean closer towards each other, taking their time, and if they're going to be honest, trying not to get ahead of themselves because after all, they have to keep in mind that this is all for show and publicity.

However, all sorts of self-control and whatnot goes to hell the moment their lips touch. Because dammit. Fireworks and rainbows are an understatement of how amazing it is. And they both know it. It's as if everyone and everything around them had disappeared into oblivion. The kiss isn't even the sensual one or the type that makes you want to jump the other. It's one of those kisses that will make anyone weak in the knees. One of those kisses that will make your heart beat faster and slower at the same time. One of those kisses that _almost_ actually makes you believe that forever exists between two people who are in love.

Well, the latter might not be something they're conscious of yet nor they are aware of having but one thing's for sure, there's definitely _something_ there that they can't deny.

After what was actually only three seconds, they pull apart and stare into each other's eyes for a moment to breathe. That, or to get themselves together because after taking in what just transpired in front of them, both women instantly clear their throats and look at anywhere but the other.

"Now that's more like it! Give it up for our favorite couple!" Blaine declares and the audience goes crazy, all which seemed to get their attention. "Alright. We'll be having a five minute intermission and when we get back, Brittany will be right with you on her critically-acclaimed show, Romantically Speaking, followed by 'Straight Talk' with Dani. Stay with us and don't go anywhere!" He adds as Will motions that they're off the air for the time being.

"Great show, you guys." Blaine utters when he approaches them.

"U-Uh.. Yeah. Thanks." Brittany mumbles, still unable to look at Santana. The latter turns to face her and is about to say something but gets told by the stage manager to leave the stage so they can set up for Brittany's live broadcast. Santana almost goes ballistic for whisking her away from Brittany but then again, she really doesn't know what to say to the blonde. Before she follows the order though, Brittany smiles back at her and somehow reassures her that everything is alright between them with that simple gesture. Momentarily, she takes a seat in an area designated for VIPs and guests.

"That was amazing, Jamie." The unmistakable voice of Carole Hummel says beside her with Burt also grinning with a thumbs up directed her way.

"O-Oh. Thank you, Carole, Burt." Santana replies with a forced smile. She looks at the woman sitting beside the couple and sees Dani with a raised eyebrow looking back at her then rolling her eyes. Probably pissed that her plan of sabotaging Brittany backfired.

Shortly after, Brittany starts with her broadcast. As usual, her wit and kindness for helping out people with their romantic lives amazes Santana. She's not even going to lie about noticing the blonde sneaking a look at her every now and then. She looks down and sighs deeply. She tries to downplay it. She tries to discount the slight tension. But when she looks up again to see Brittany staring back at her in a way that she really can't explain, it overwhelms her. Scares the hell out of her. In short, typical Santana when it comes to confronting her feelings.

When she can't seem to bear it anymore, she stands up and excuses herself then walks away to get some air. If she's going to be honest, the thought of leaving completely brushed her mind. But she can't do that to Brittany. She would never leave her hanging like that. No best friend would do that. So, for lack of a better way to go about the whole thing, she goes on a long walk just to shake off everything and clear her head.

To get Brittany out of her head.

* * *

"Fuck off, you fucking shit!" Santana sneers at a clown who's trying to entertain her or in reality, annoy the hell out of her. Sure enough, the clown frowns and leaves her be as she continues to do her own tour of the whole event for almost half an hour now. Who knew this place could be that freaking big?

When she's finally had enough of walking, she decides take a seat in a nearby bench near a horror house. It's actually a good thing because the echoing screams of the scared people inside is deafening her thoughts about absolutely nothing. She just kissed her best friend. She thinks that an innocent kiss would be alright but the fact that there has been a slight romantic thing going on between them plus the tension of trying to hide and avoid it because they're friends isn't really helping the situation. Hell, it just made it all the more complicated.

She can admit it in a way now, she guesses. There is definitely _something_ there. She's sure of it. But the thing is, she doesn't want to acknowledge it because if she does that, she's fucked. It would be like admitting defeat. It would be admitting that she really does have feelings for Brittany. Her best friend.

"You okay?" A soft voice catches her attention. A voice she knows all too well. She looks up to see Brittany looking back at her with a slight concern. Why does she still have to be so beautiful when she's not even trying to be? Ugh.

"Y-Yeah. Just taking a bit of a breather." She replies and forces a smile that doesn't go unnoticed by Brittany who nods and takes a seat in front of her.

"Where did you go? You disappeared halfway into the broadcast."

"Around. Tried to shake off the nerves of almost having a heart attack on stage because of Gay Warbler back there." Santana lies and it's just her luck that her best friend of more than a decade now knows her like the back of her hand. Thing is, Brittany doesn't really know how to go on about this too. And for once, lets Santana slip with a lie. With everything that's happened, now's not the right moment to talk about the kiss because if she's known the brunette like she had, the latter's walls would only come up and she'd go nowhere with this.

"But I thought we'd tour it together?" The blonde jests with a pout and finally gets a laugh out of Santana.

"We could tour it again. This time I could tell you the nice spots too."

"Nice spots, huh?" Brittany smirks and Santana rolls her eyes at the girl.

"That's supposed to be my line, asswipe."

"You know I do it better, you fugly bitch." Brittany counters and they burst in laughter.

"'Fugly bitch'?" Santana exclaims in between her laughing. "Who are you, Quinn?"

After a moment, their laughter dies down and they're once again left to stare and share a moment with each other. It was only when the screams of every coward inside the horror house echoes once again that they're pulled out of their trance.

Suddenly, Brittany smirks and wiggles her eyebrows at the brunette. "Wanna go inside the horror house?"

Santana's eyes widen and profusely shakes her head in protest. But of course, it's to no avail because the blonde literally drags her out of her seat and into the line for the attraction.

"Britt, no! Please, let me go! Horror houses are for cowards!" She begs and tries to get out of her best friend's steel grip on her wrist.

"I can see that." Brittany chuckles at her scared friend. When she finally calms down though, the radio host takes this moment to get something out of the way. "Hey, San." She mutters under her breath.

"Yeah?"

"That kiss. Did-"Brittany treads lightly only to be cut off by Santana.

"Let's talk about it some other time, Britt." The brunette tells her with a tight-lipped smile and somehow, Brittany can now breathe a little better as they stare into each other's eyes, silently agreeing that it's the best way to go.

Just like clockwork, the line moves and one by one, everyone is allowed to enter.

"San?" Brittany utters when they're almost at the entrance. Santana just looks at her but doesn't reply, possibly out of fear of what's coming. "What's your favorite scary movie?" The blonde teases, imitating Ghostface's voice. Instead of being amused, her best friend slaps her on the arm while she shrugs and laughs it off.

Brittany stares at Santana for a second while smiling and trying to stifle her laughter. She's probably the luckiest person in the world to have Santana in her life. Well, a terrified Santana at that right now but still hot and beautiful as ever.

"Hey, San?"

"Brittany, I swear to God! Stop imitating Ghostface! I'm scared out of my wits he-"

"I know. And don't worry." She tries to calm the girl down by grabbing the brunette's hand and intertwines it with hers. "I got you, babe." Brittany adds, echoing Santana's words while sporting the brunette's favorite smile, as they enter the horror house holding hands.

* * *

 **I hate to be a tease but the next chapter is what you've all been waiting for :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the reviews and sorry for the delay on this one.**

 **A little treat for everyone who's still nursing a hangover. Happy Halloween! :)**

* * *

The ride home was pleasant. In a way.

Sure, there was the obvious, awkward tension brought by the kiss earlier but then again, no one dared to talk about it. The whole way, they talked about the most random of things except, of course, the kiss. Frustrating as it may be, no one wants to be the one to bring it up for fear that they wouldn't know what to say to the other. Or more of _how_ to say what they feel about the whole thing.

"Oh gosh. I'm so tired." Brittany groans as she stretches her legs by the driver's seat during a red light. It's been a few hours of driving between them so far and her legs can't be more thankful enough that she's only a few blocks away from dropping of Santana.

"Yeah. So am I. My body's about to fall off from my head." Santana sighs and glances at her watch to see that it's awfully late already. Later than they have anticipated in arriving back home. Seeing the present circumstances, a thought pops in her head. For a few seconds, she weighs the pros and cons like an idiot and although hesitant about it, she decides to go for the obvious direction. Something that they always do whenever this kind of thing happens.

"Hey, Britt. Do you want to just- you know.." She utters and hesitates at the last second to finish her sentence. Kind of weird since they've done this literally hundreds of times before. And then this.

"Do what?"

"You know... Sleepover?" The brunette replies with an awkward grin.

Brittany gives her a curious look before turning her attention back on the road. "Uhmm.. Sure."

"'Sure' no choice? Or like 'Sure' why not?" Santana leans closer and tries to dissect that single word repeatedly in her mind.

"What?" Brittany chuckles at her best friend's antics. "I meant that as 'Sure' I'd love to, San. It's been a while since we've done a sleepover. Besides, I'm so tired and want nothing more than to rest my back."

Sure. If she didn't know any better, it's her way of trying to prove to herself that being alone with Santana overnight won't make any difference with their friendship. That it really won't be awkward at all. That her friendship with Santana greatly outweighs those of her feelings for the girl. Or so she thought.

On the other hand, Santana's heart jumps a little of joy. Maybe it's because they've rarely spent some alone time with each other for a while now with all that's been going on. She's kind of relieved in a way that she'll get to have her best friend to herself just for a little bit. If she's going to be honest, she missed spending time with the blonde like this. Just being themselves.

"Cool. I'll have the red carpet ready for you then." The brunette quips and Brittany rolls her eyes as they laugh like nothing changed.

They arrived at Santana's apartment building not long after. The struggle to unload their luggage and go up the brunette's place is so freaking real, they literally had their eyes closed the whole time during the elevator ride.

"So, is there anything new that you've done to your place?" Brittany mutters under her breath as they walk the remaining steps towards the girl's apartment.

"Well, I bought a console."

"Console? Like a gaming console?"

"Yep. I haven't used it though." Santana utters with a grin as she opens the door to unveil her apartment. A perfectly decorated and spacious one bedroom apartment with a rustic design composed of soft red, white, and wood interior. It's basically like a high end bachelorette's pad, thanks to Santana's high paying job in advertising.

"I see that nothing has changed. Your place still looks like a sex den." Brittany comments with a smirk as she settles herself and stretches her legs by the couch, making herself feel at home.

"For the last time, it's not a sex den, okay?"

"Right. Just a completely normal apartment in which you've brought home tens, if not hundreds of women and proceeded to have the physical pleasure of heaven brought onto them and into your own. I'm getting the symptoms of Yeast Infection just by sitting on your couch."

Santana rolls her eyes and grabs the both of them a glass of water. "Everything had been cleaned before we got here and I don't know what you're talking about, Goldilocks."

"I'm sure you do, Selma Hayek." The blonde counters back and downs the glass of water in almost three gulps. "Oh gosh, thanks San. Now all I need is a massage and I'm good." She jests.

"I'd oblige to your demand only if this massage involves a happy ending." Santana says with a smirk and scoots beside Brittany on the couch.

"You wish, San." The blonde leans towards Santana, resting her head on the girl's shoulder. "My legs are killing me." She adds, groaning.

"Your legs, huh? What time do they open, baby?" Santana moves a little and motions to lift both of the blonde's legs onto her lap while Brittany just chuckles and relax in her place.

"They open at the same time I kick your head and break your neck, 'baby'."

"Ooh… A little fight in you, I like that." Santana voices out with a big smirk, proceeding to massage her best friend's right lower leg.

"I know. That's why you love me, right?" Brittany utters innocently but almost instantly regrets it when she realizes what she just said and Santana's surprised face doesn't really help that much to makes her feel at ease. Then the thing she had dreaded the most to happen just had to happen.

It becomes awkward. Fucking awkward.

Upon realizing the close proximity of their bodies, Santana instantly lets go of Brittany's leg and looks at a nonexistent being on her left while the blonde immediately sits upright and scoots to the rightmost side of the black leather couch, pretending to be busy about something random.

Just freaking great.

Brittany contemplates for a minute if this is the right time to bring up the thing about the kiss earlier. It won't hurt, wouldn't it? They're alone. Sober. Tired but functioning. So, it might probably be a good time to talk about it. Right?

"San, I think we should talk abo-"

"Hey, how about we try the new console?" Santana exclaims as she shoots up from the couch, disregarding Brittany's words as if she didn't hear anything.

"But I was thinki-"

"Oh! I have the new NBA game! Let's try it out!" The brunette adds and hands her a controller, acting all oblivious.

Brittany sighs deeply. She knows Santana well enough to say that it's a hopeless case once those walls have come up. They've been in more fights than she can bother to count with regard to pushing the brunette on talking about something. Maybe she really doesn't want to discuss things right now. Or isn't ready to.

"Sure. But don't cry when I beat you, Lopez." Brittany jests as she musters a fake smile.

"You wish, Pierce."

"That rhymes, doesn't it?"

"Shut up and play, B." Santana chuckles and hands a controller down the blonde's way. Trying to act all confident when all she wants to do is cuddle up with Brittany and tell the girl how she really feels about her.

After changing into some comfortable clothing and what must have been an hour of gaming, mostly with Brittany winning everything they've played so far, the toll of a hard day's work finally takes it upon them.

"How about we call it a night, B?" Santana utters, yawning after.

"Yeah, I think you're right. Just let me finish this one game then I'm good to go." Brittany says with her eyes still on the screen.

"Oh, c'mon. You've dunked on LeBron James for the fifth time already. Let's call it a night. I wanna slee-" The brunette gets cut off by a ringing sound. She looks at her phone to see that it's her receptionist and excuses herself, getting ignored by a screaming Brittany pulling an alley oop on Kevin Love.

Well, that's what she thought because as soon as she goes to the kitchen to answer the call, Brittany starts to lose the game. All because of trying to eavesdrop on who Santana's talking to. Her bird's eye focus from a while ago has now gone and she's still not getting anything. Kind of unusual for her because she's never done this before, so maybe attribute it to best friend jealousy or some crap like that.

"What happened to your game?" Santana speaks out as she walks back to the couch after her less than a minute phone call.

"H-Huh?"

"A while ago you were leading by 10 points, now you're behind by 5. It's not like I was gone that long."

"U-Uh.. LeBron James sucks, that's why." The blonde counters and clears her throat. "So, who was that?" _What?! Why would you ask that? You're too obvious!,_ Brittany thinks.

"It's my receptionist. She just confirmed about my plus one for tomorrow." Santana shrugs and lies comfortably on the couch, going as far as resting her feet on Brittany's lap, making the latter flinch a little.

Feelings. Why must they ruin everything? If this were a few months ago, they would've cuddled like nothing's wrong.

"Wait. Plus one for what?"

"The work party I told you about before that you agreed to be my date on? It's tomorrow night. Well, technically later since it's past midnight already." The brunette mumbles then yawns heartily.

"Hold up. Don't we also have that charity thing at the Hummels' the day after?"

"Yeah. I feel like a rockstar with such a busy schedule." Santana adds with a chuckle. "I already have a dress for both occasions, courtesy of one Lucy Caboosey."

"Oh no. I haven't shopped for anything at all."

"Don't worry about it. She has everything ready for you too, if I'm not mistaken. I don't know how but Q said that she got it for free from her client who's an up and coming designer. Though she expects it to be returned when she gets back in shape."

"We're not going to return it, aren't we?" Brittany says with a smirk.

"Hell no. It's labelled!" The brunette adds and they both laugh.

Brittany missed this. If she's going to be honest, she missed this calm vibe between them since lately it's been nothing but a bunch of questions about their feelings for each other and the sexual tension that's been multiplied by a hundred than it normally is. Seeing that her opponent is beating her in the most humiliating way, she decides to quit playing after a few minutes and turn the whole thing off after much frustration.

"Hey, San. I'm done let's go slee-" Brittany cuts herself off upon taking a glance at a sleeping Santana. She doesn't consciously stop talking. It just so happens that the cute scene before her just takes the words out of her mouth and renders her speechless. How can anyone look so stunning when they are sleeping? Santana's flawless caramel skin together with her calm, incredibly beautiful face and a body that's to die for. Wow. Just wow. For all Brittany knows, she looks like a mess when she's sleeping. Maybe even some drool on the side of her mouth for good measure.

As if on auto-pilot, she slowly removes Santana's feet on her lap and scoots closer to the girl's body just by the waist. She's not trying to be a creep but she can't help but admire the brunette's beautiful face. Brittany evem smiles to herself when Santana's eyebrows scrunch a little as she pushes a stray hair behind the girl's ear.

Then those lips. Don't even get her started on that one.

Brittany knows deep inside that she has feelings for Santana. No matter how hard she tries to deny it. No matter how hard she tries to think otherwise. No matter how much she tries to teach herself that she can't. There's just nothing she can't do about it. She has feelings for her best friend and maybe now's the right time to admit it. Or act on it.

Like a fool, she leans closer to Santana's face. She knows that it's probably creepy in a way but it's not like she could stop herself. Ever since the show ended today, all that's been on her mind is that kiss earlier and how much she wants to do it again. And again. Maybe more. When she's about three inches away from Santana's face, she notices the brunette's phone lighting up from the table which stops her from doing anything more.

It's out of curiosity when she decides to take a peek at who it is. It's not like it's an invasion of privacy. Maybe it's someone important that it's worth waking up Santana or whatever. So, when she presses the home button on the brunette's phone, it disappoints her to see, that-. Fuck that. It _pains_ her to see that a preview of the message is from one of those girls that Santana had slept with before. And the message indicates that it's been a while that they have but the booty call still remains the same.

Brittany purses her lips together as she takes a glance at a peacefully sleeping Santana. Maybe those newly admitted feelings to herself are directed towards the wrong person. She's known her best friend as a player for the longest time and maybe that's why she's been hesitant on falling for her. That maybe those feelings would go to waste and hurt her so bad she doesn't think she'll able to recover.

She sighs deeply this time and stands up to face the sleeping girl on the couch. Brittany contemplates what to do for a bit. Should she stay or should she go? It pains her that she had to see that but there's nothing she could do now, right? Well, there is. Instead of walking away and never looking back, she slowly motions to pick up Santana from the couch and carefully carry the girl towards the bedroom and into the king-sized bed. Brittany decides that's enough for now and maybe she should go home instead. She stands up from the bed once again, taking one last glance at Santana before finally deciding to go home. Maybe sleeping this one out would try to erase the pain that she feels right now. Or even the memory of it.

"Stay." Santana's raspy voice whispers and grabs her hand, making Brittany stop in her tracks.

Brittany looks back to see the brunette looking at her with pleading eyes. The blonde doesn't even think about it or once again juggle the pros and cons because just with those puppy eyes that she can't resist, she nods and relents to the request, bringing a lazy smile to Santana's face. Brittany, without hesitation, jumps into bed and cuddles with Santana under the covers.

Once they get settled to their positions, everything shuts down. No more thinking. No more questions. They relax in each other's embrace and fall asleep in record time. It's kind of funny to them because in almost every sleepover they've had, this is their default sleeping position. And with the added tension and the like, it just feels so good to have that someone you care so bad for cuddling next to you. Falling asleep with you.

The last thing on Brittany's mind before they fell asleep was that maybe falling for Santana wasn't a bad thing at all. Just maybe.

* * *

Upon waking up the afternoon after, they decide to go their separate ways for a bit after having lunch. With Brittany dropping off some papers at work and Santana running some errands for herself. But in all honesty, they would have wanted to do all those things together were it not for the much needed space between them. Literally an hour more and they would combust with the magnified sexual tension in the room. Then again, they also take this free time to prepare for that boring work party of Santana's later in which the latter cannot be more thankful that Brittany agreed to accompany her and be her date. Not like a _date_ date. Just a date. Like, you know. A companion to survive a boring night. Yeahhh.

"Right on schedule, aren't we? I think I regret giving you a key." Quinn comments nonchalantly upon hearing Santana enter their apartment.

"Oh please, you love me. Blame yourself for being so good on doing eyebrows and being one of my best friends." The brunette replies with a shrug as she settles herself beside Quinn by the couch, her attention directed on her phone upon seeing a message from Brittany.

 **From Brittany:** _Hey San, how many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?_

Santana smirks at her friend's silliness but decides to play along for the meantime without trying to act too obvious.

 **To Brittany:** _How many?_

"Or just plain lazy." Quinn quips, subtly eavesdropping on the brunette's phone.

"Whatever, Q." Santana rolls her eyes then notices that nobody's around. "Where's Beth? Everybody? Aren't you supposed to be supervised 24/7 now since you're due date is in a week?"

"Santana, I'm pregnant, not disabled." Quinn adds and gestures to face the brunette while reaching for a make-up kit that she prepared a while ago. "I knew you were coming so they went to get ice cream and Chinese takeaway for dinner a couple of blocks away."

Santana gives her a questioning look as she mirrors Quinn's position then goes back to her phone when she receives another message. "Wait. How did you know I was coming? And who's 'they'?"

"The person you've been texting nonstop."

 **From Brittany:** _TENtickles! Get it? Tentacles!_

"Huh?" Santana looks up laughing and breaking out into a dopey grin that she can't get off her face. It's not her fault that Brittany's adorably dorky with her text messages and come on, the joke was absolutely funny! But oh- she forgot for a second that Quinn's talking to her. "W-What did you say?"

Quinn rolls her eyes and points to her phone. "Brittany, of course."

"O-Oh. It's j-just, you know. Best friend stuff."

"Uh-huh. Sure, S." Quinn remarks with a big smirk, directing the brunette to put her phone away so she can start. "Besides, you just missed them not more than five minutes ago."

Santana nods and hesitantly obliges to her friend's demand so they can start. "W-Well, I can't say I missed her. I mean, we spent the night together after the show yesterday. So, I don't thi-"

"Woah! Hold the fuck up! You spent the night together? Like _together_ together?" Quinn exclaims excitedly and Santana's eyes immediately open wide.

"W-What? N-No! She just stayed over because we were both really tired from the trip! Nothing more!"

"I find that hard to believe with you being yourself. I mean, you've practically slept with half of Manhattan. So, just be honest with me on this one and I won't judge."

"With all that shit you just said about me being me, I find it hard to believe that you won't judge me. Or already have. You should run for court politics or something. You'd make a great judge, _judger._ "

Quinn laughs and stares at her for a good second, trying to determine the best way to go with this if she wants to get an answer from her stubborn friend. "Fine. Shots have been fired but I think you know what I mean. So, did you?"

"No! We didn't, okay?" Santana snaps and rolls her eyes at her pregnant friend. "Brittany's different. She's amazing. I-I just c-can't." She adds and looks down, deep in thought.

Quinn contemplates on pushing it but seeing Santana so defeated like this, ultimately decides that now is not really the right time so she shrugs it off instead. "Okay. But just so you know, when I said that 'missed' thing, I meant that they just left not more than five minutes ago, not like… You know…"

Santana purses her lips and clears her throat, trying to compose herself from the conversation's sudden turn. "So, shall we start?"

After a while of getting ready, Quinn and Santana are almost finally done with everything. Quinn is in the process of zipping Santana's little black slash neck dress from the back when the brunette finally catches on with a familiar tune that's been repeatedly playing for the last few minutes.

"What is that song? It's catchy."

"Oh. It's Beth's favorite song right now so it's been playing nonstop. It's called 'I won't say I'm in love' from Hercules."

Santana nods and walks towards the wall-to-floor mirror from the side to check herself out. "I like it. It's sassy and well, nice."

"Yeah. I love it, especially the lyrics. Like how the girl keeps on denying that she's in love with someone but she knows deep inside that she's madly in love. Like head over heels in love but just in denial. Did I say in love?" Quinn adds with a smirk as she trains her eyes on Santana who takes a quick glance at her.

"Not enough for your taste, I think."

Quinn sarcastically chuckles and approaches her to fix something on her dress. "Yeah. I guess I'm just caught up with the song so much, especially the chorus." She adds and proceeds to sing it, irking Santana a little.

"Stop it before I get that song stuck in my head, Q." The brunette replies nonchalantly as she reaches for her phone to check a message from Brittany a while ago.

 **Brittany:** _I'm all done! On my way to pick you up, beautiful :)_

"Good. Then maybe you'll realize it's meant for you."

"Hmm? W-What was that?" Santana almost chokes with her words because of those damn butterflies in her stomach. Come on, who wouldn't smile with that kind of message.

Quinn sighs and just shakes her head at her dumbfounded friend. It almost makes her puke with how whipped Santana is being right now. She doesn't have to know that though.

Just like clockwork, the front door opens to unveil Puck and Beth entering the apartment.

"Aunt Tana!" The kid cries out and excitedly runs towards Santana who welcomes her with open arms and a wide grin. "You look like a Disney princess again! Are you sure you're not a Disney princess? You can sing well too!"

"I think I actually am a Disney princess, kiddo."

"Looking great, Lopez." Puck comments with a big grin and receives an eye roll instead.

"So, did you enjoy your ice cream?"

"I sure did! Aunt Britty ate a lot of ice cream with me!"

Santana instantly finds herself grinning at the sound of the blonde's name. Even if she tries hard to hide it, the smirk on the couple in front of her tells her that it's too late for that. So, instead of embarrassing herself any further, she stands up straight and fixes her dress. "So, where is she?"

"Oh. She split up with us after getting ice cream to get herself ready. And since it took us forever to get my wife's craving of Chinese takeaway, I'm sure she'll be here any minute now." Puck voices out and Santana just nods in reply.

Then, speak of the devil- Wait, scratch that. Speak of the angel, Brittany enters the apartment looking like the fucking angel that she is in a red, sexy cut-out sleeveless skater dress with black stiletto pumps that show off those amazing long legs. In short, she looks like she just fell down from heaven and decided to grace everyone in the apartment with her otherworldly presence.

Oh. My. God.

"Hey, guys." Brittany greets them with the most beautiful smile.

Words. What are words?

It must have been a complete minute with nobody in the room speaking. No one. At all. Everyone is just as awestruck as Santana by the beauty that is Brittany Pierce in front of them.

"Wow, San. Y-You look so beautiful. That's an understatement. You're stunning. Stunningly amazing. I-I mean, if there's a term like that or something." Brittany rambles just a feet or two away in front of the brunette, slowly turning red in the process.

Initializing. That's what Santana's brain is doing right now.

"W-Wha- W-What? Oh! Y-Yeah. T-Thanks, Britt. You as w-well. B-Beautiful, r-really." Santana barely manages to croak out. If she's going to want to survive this night with her heart still in place and vagina intact, then she needs to get herself together.

"Wow. I have Disney princesses for aunts!" Beth chimes in and the situation seemingly lightens up as they all chuckle.

"Mommy is a Disney princess too and so are you, honey." Brittany quips and gracefully crouches to give the kid a hug, unveiling a long vertical slit behind the upper part of her dress.

"Oh for the love of God." Santana mutters under her breath upon seeing the visible skin that almost sends her to oblivion.

"What was that?" The radio host asks innocently.

"W-What? N-No. Nothing. Ready to go?" She replies then clears her throat and tries to recover. She cannot believe how such a simple image could send her into overdrive. Plus, the catchy Disney fucking song that's been blaring throughout the whole apartment a while ago and until now isn't really helping at all. It's on a freaking loop and the continuous words of ' _who d'you think you're kidding, he's the earth and heaven to you. Try to keep it hidden, honey we can see right through you…"_ is seriously getting through her. It's as if those damn muses are talking directly to her.

Brittany nods and they bid their thank you and goodbyes to the Puckermans, gathering their stuff in the process. When they're almost out the door, Santana hears Quinn calling for her and stops in her tracks to take a peek behind the door.

"What was that, Q?"

"Don't die!" Quinn comments with a smirk. Santana doesn't reply and just rolls her eyes as she shuts the door on her way out.

"What did Quinn say, San?"

Santana glances at Brittany to reply like any normal person but once again, she's almost rendered speechless by how beautiful the girl is. "S-She said, 'have fun and take care'."

Brittany smiles and subtly checks out Santana in the process, almost getting caught at her leering. Santana takes a deep breath and gathers herself for a second as they wait for the elevator to reach their floor in silence. When it arrives though, something she fears happens and she suddenly finds herself humming the song from a while ago, the lyrics almost bombarding her with their meaning.

Fuck.

* * *

"This is really boring, San."

An hour into this work party and they're just bored out of their minds. As much as they are both trying to get themselves into this, it's just not going to happen. It must be the fact that they have been so distracted with how stunning the other looks that any effort of trying to focus on anything else won't happen.

For Santana, the struggle has been quite real and she's borderline suffering in the best possible way of being subjected to the heaven sent angel that is Brittany Pierce. And a minute upon arriving at the party, she knew that based from all the heads that turned towards their direction that tonight's not going to be an easy one. So, she decided to play it cool and be her normal self. Santana was selfish with Brittany's attention back then and surprised at herself right now, she's going to be more selfish with the blonde than ever. Not just the girl's attention. But Brittany as a whole. Her Brittany.

Things with Brittany, on the other hand, isn't really going that well too. She's been trying hard not to leer and check out her best friend too much but it's been so difficult because have you seen Santana? The woman's a goddess in that dress! What more under that- Anyway, so far that they've arrived, it pisses her off that everyone who's been in contact with them had been trying to flirt with Santana. She doesn't want that. She hates it. So, for the past hour, she's been trying to act cool but wants nothing more than to get out of here and keep Santana to herself. Her Santana.

"I know. I'm thankful that you're here though. At least I get to check you out." Santana jests and almost regrets saying it were it not for Brittany's warm reception like it's totally normal. Well yeah, it is normal. Must be the nerves.

"Oh, please. Everyone's been trying to flirt with you ever since we got here."

"What can I say?" Santana smirks and receives an eye roll from Brittany.

"Lopez!" A big, burly woman in a suit exclaims, making Santana turn around who instantly grins at the familiar face.

"Shannon! I was beginning to wonder where you were. Enjoying the party?"

"I know. This party's rocking! And so are you and your date!" She happily utters then glance at Brittany, holding out a hand. "Don't worry, I'm not hitting on anyone. I'm straight as a duck pole on a rainy night!" She adds and Brittany squints her eyes trying to understand what the fuck she just heard.

Santana laughs heartily and moves closer beside Brittany, placing her hand on the girl's lower back which sends goosebumps all over the blonde's body. "Beiste, this is Brittany Pierce. Britt, this is Shannon Beiste, one of the few people I don't hate at work."

"U-Uh.. Hi." Brittany utters shyly then clears her throat. "It's so nice to meet you, Shannon."

"It's so nice to meet you too. You are glowing! Like a glow in the dark stick in a black night! No wonder everyone's been talking about the both of you. How long have you been together?"

Brittany's eyes open wide and finds herself at a loss for words, turning to Santana for help instead. "W-Well, w-we're not exactly to-

"Not that long." Santana replies confidently while Brittany gives her a questioning look. "We've been friends for a long time and we really haven't dated that long."

Shannon nods and chugs the wine glass on her hand in one go. "Ah. I didn't know Santana does that old friends to lovers thing. But then again, early's only late if you make tomorrow yesterday!" Shannon pauses for a second while Brittany tries to make sense of that last part. "Good for you and your supermodel girlfriend, Lopez. Congratulations on that latest client and big ass bonus! Drown yourselves with alcohol!" She adds before disappearing somewhere without letting Santana and Brittany react.

"Okay. What was that? What did she say? I didn't understand a thing." The blonde speaks out, visibly confused with everything that happened within the last five minutes.

"That's how she normally speaks. Like Shakespeare on crack or something." Santana replies then grabs Brittany's hand and leads her to the dance floor where a couple of people are dancing along to the band's cover of 'At Last'. She knows that she'd been hesitant and to be honest, a big coward. She even took it upon herself like it's her mission in life not to talk about her feelings and that kiss but then again, maybe she just needs to do things at her own pace instead of being pressured by everyone.

"And I said that so she would tell everybody else because I don't want anyone hitting on you." Santana adds as she guides her best friend's hands onto both sides of her waist while wrapping her arms around Brittany's neck, all the more surprising the latter with her sudden actions.

Brittany takes a deep breath and tries to catch up with everything's that been happening so far. "W-Well, it's not like someone will, San."

Santana chuckles and pulls Brittany tighter and closer to her. "Oh, Britt. Everyone here has been wanting to talk to you since we arrived. If it weren't for me, they would be all over you right now."

"Why? Are they afraid of you?"

"I put the fear of God upon them as long as I'm within a mile radius."

Brittany actually laughs at that remark and this time, leads Santana into the slow dance. "So, I guess I should be thankful that you're around, huh?"

"Maybe." Santana says through a small smile. "Unless you want them to then I'll leave you alone."

"Nah, I don't want that."

"Why?"

"Because I only want to be with you." Brittany states confidently partnered with that sweet, sweet smile that knocks Santana off her feet.

Oh, boy. Breathe, Santana. Breathe, bitch.

"W-Well, that's good since I don't want them getting close to you either, Britt." Santana mutters under her breath, this time their faces are only a couple of inches apart.

"Why?"

"Because you're mine and I'm yours, B."

Brittany tries to remove the dopey grin on her face, it's difficult as fuck and seriously impossible because she fails miserably at it. Oh, Santana. How dare she make Brittany's legs feel like jelly.

"Really, San?"

"Yes, babe. You're the only one and I'm so yours. All yours."

If the butterflies in their stomachs weren't rioting a while ago, this time it's full time chaos because this is so much more than they could handle. None of them are entirely sure but it's as if they've told each other how they feel in the most indirect way possible.

Brittany's grin widens even more, it's possibly the widest she's even grinned in her life. So does Santana. So, instead of saying or doing anything to ruin the moment, they both stay silent and just savor the music and the perfect moment.

Literally perfect.

* * *

They made a decision to call it a night not long after.

Instead of hailing a cab like they always do, they decide to wing it and just a walk the remaining blocks away from Brittany's apartment. Because one, it's close enough. Two, a lot of people are still out since it's a Saturday. And three, it's a great chance to hold hands with each other on the way back.

The whole walk has been quiet so far with just the occasional glance and smiling to each other along the way. Brittany is so overjoyed right now because who would have thought that she'd hear something like that from Santana? Moreover, who would have thought that she'd ever relent herself from saying something like that and those feelings actually be reciprocated? It's amazing and simply the stuff that's only seen in movies. She's probably living in one with the rate this is going.

On the other hand, it's almost unbelievable for Santana that baring her heart out like that a while ago was easy, almost effortless for her. Maybe because it's Brittany we're talking about here. She's known the girl half her life now and never in her wildest of dreams would she ever thought that she'd say that to anyone. Anyone at all. She's pride herself too much of being the non-commitment type to say something romantic like that. And you know what? It felt good for her to say something like that to the most important person in her life. It felt so right and so good that she doesn't even regret it one bit.

"So, we're finally here…" Santana trails off, stopping in front of Brittany's apartment building.

"Yeah." The blonde replies with a sigh, unsure on how to go about this since she doesn't want to end the night yet.

"So, uhmm…"

"Y-Yeah, I guess this is-"

"Can I walk you to your door?" Santana blurts out in a hurry, just anything to keep Brittany with her some more.

Brittany breaks out into a grin and running out of things to say as well, only nods in response.

The whole way to her apartment was as silent as the one going to her building. It's weird in a way because it's not like they're being awkward about it, it's more of them trying to figure out what to say to each other and what to do in this situation.

"This is me, San." Brittany utters when they reach her front door and proceeds to unlock it. Does she invite Santana inside? How do they end this night? Kiss on the cheek? Hug? Argh. So many questions and thinking going on inside her head.

Santana doesn't know what to do either. And like reflex for her being a coward with her feelings and not knowing the next move to this dance, just goes with whatever she can.

"Goodnight, Britt." She adds, noticing the disappointment on Brittany's face as she starts to walk away. But before the voices in her head get the chance to scream at her for being a chicken, or the thought of regretting her actions kick in, and prior to taking another step further, Brittany stops her immediately then turns her around and pulls her close.

Pulls her into a kiss. A long awaited kiss.

Santana's surprised face might say it all, a small part of her even wants to break away knowing where this is headed but then again, this is something she has wanted and desired for the longest time now. No matter how much she'd try to fight it, her body makes the decision for herself and goes into autopilot when she starts kissing Brittany back with all she's got.

No stage. No acts. Just them being in their most vulnerable state.

Brittany doesn't waste any more time though. She leads Santana inside her apartment and takes control when she pushes the girl against her door, shutting it effectively and never once pulling their lips apart. When they do separate from each other after a minute or two to breathe a little from all the intense kissing, Santana takes it as a time to take everything about Brittany. This is so different. This is a whole other level of intimacy for Santana. She never knew how much she'd wanted to do this until now.

"Stay." Brittany whispers with a husky voice, eyes still trained on Santana and never breaking eye contact.

Santana doesn't hesitate even one bit this time. Instead of answering and screwing this up, she proceeds to lock Brittany's front door then looks back at those usually light blue eyes that has now turned into a darker shade. Santana smiles as she leans closer once again to kiss Brittany passionately, deeper and more tender this time as she leads them both to the bedroom.

 _I'm in love_ , both of them thought in almost unison.

* * *

 **May or may not update this Thursday :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow. That's all I could say. Thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! Much appreciated! :)**

* * *

Fucking unbelievable.

That's what Santana thinks of everything right now. It's already the morning after her work party and she still can't believe that she spent the night with Brittany. Just mind-blowing, soul-reviving sex.

Well, right now she doesn't prefer for it to be called as such because for the first time probably in her whole life, she did it with feelings. With actual fucking feelings. As she digests the whole thing in her head, there are two things that she has been enlightened with.

One, having sex with someone you have feelings for is possibly the best damn thing in the universe. Seriously. She could do this forever. And as she said before, it ain't exactly "sex" anymore not only because there's feelings involved, but simply for the reason that – and finally – she admitted to herself that she's in love with Brittany. Among all those times Quinn and Puck had told her that having sex with someone you're in love with is different from just plain sex, with Brittany, she finally knows what they mean. And she's happy that she does.

Making love. She never thought she'd ever say this, but it's pretty fucking amazing and life changing.

And the second one, being in love has just completely changed the game for her. Like Buddha kind of enlightenment. Now, as she stares with a dopey grin plastered on her face at a still sleeping and equally naked Brittany covered by the comforter, she wonders why she didn't do this sooner. No, not the sex. Falling in love with her best friend. Being on cloud nine is an understatement. Everything has changed and she's seeing everything in a new light. The fact that she can't leer away from staring at the blonde's beautiful face is amazing on its own. The fact that she doesn't want to get up from bed or that she would voluntarily just stay in bed with the blonde doing nothing all day is one of the best things ever. The fact that she's now in love with her best friend is the best thing that has ever happened to her.

Facts that can't be denied or ignored.

Suddenly, Brittany shifts a little and instead of looking away or doing something else not to seem too obvious, Santana lifts her head and supports it with a hand while chuckling at how cute the blonde is in the morning. A few seconds later, Brittany finally wakes up and the first thing she sees is a grinning Santana above her who's staring back, immediately bring a lazy, sleepy smile to her face.

"Good morning, hottie." Brittany sleepily mumbles.

Santana chuckles as her stomach flutters at the cuteness of one Brittany Pierce. "'Hottie'? What are you, 15?"

Brittany laughs and closes her eyes for a second to gather herself and look back at last night's events. The most amazing night. She had slept with Santana and the thought makes her heart jump a little from excitement and joy. Or from surprise. She's not entirely sure but damn, it feels good! Actually, the way she sees it, it's not merely sex because she had just admitted to herself that she's in love with the brunette and if there's any way to go along with this, everything has changed.

She can't actually think of it as just 'sex' anymore. Never mind that Santana is soo good in bed or the fact that it's probably the best sex she's ever had or that she lost count with many times she had an orgasm. Fuck that. She could go on and on about how last night was probably the best night of her life but nothing could compare to the fact that she and Santana didn't just have sex.

They made love. And that's the only fact that matters.

"How are you?" Brittany whispers through that lazy smile, gaze resting upon Santana's flawless face. Seriously. Who could look this amazing in the morning? You don't even need that 'woke up like this' bullshit because right here, in front of her, is the real deal.

"Tired but fantastic. You?" Santana replies with a similar dopey grin.

"Starving but wonderful." The blonde actually giggles and scoots closer to Santana. "Who knew you were such a good cuddler, San?"

Santana laughs and cozies closer to Brittany as well, leaving no space between them as she rests an arm over the girl's waist. "It's a newfound skill and you seemed to enjoy it very well with the way you slept like someone knocked you out last night."

"Hey, someone did knock me out last night! I didn't expect for you to be such a horndog!"

"A 'horndog'?" Santana echoes with a chuckle. "B, you were the one who kept on asking for more! I mean, I know I'm irresistible but seriously, you didn't even let me rest aside from that little food break we had."

Brittany playfully rolls her eyes and smirks. "Excuse me, are you complaining about having multiple orgasms and generally having the time of your time last night?"

"Not really. I'm just saying that you should take responsibility for your actions and own up to it." Santana teases back as she pushes a stray hair behind Brittany's ear.

"I'd gladly take the blame. But just so you know, if this is your way of turning women on to sleep with you again the morning after then you're not really doing a good job." Brittany grins and positions herself on top of Santana, taking the latter by surprise.

"W-Well, u-uh..." Santana stutters a little bit when she gets a full view of Brittany's beautiful naked body on top of her once again. Something she thinks she'll never get tired of nor can't ever get enough.

"Yes?" Brittany almost whispers with a devilish grin, leaning a little too close for comfort and making it hard for brunette to breathe.

Santana tries to gather herself by breathing deeply and just taking in Brittany's beauty. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that everything will come to this. She guesses that the best part of it all is where she doesn't even regret it one bit, she'd even gladly take it to a higher level. If it were up to her, she'd tell this stunning girl that she's in love with her, repeatedly. Santana chuckles at the random thoughts she's having at the very second that a naked woman is on top of her which never really happened before since she'd usually just go for it without even thinking about anything. But then again, this is Brittany. Brittany is different. Brittany is _it_.

Brittany gives her a look while pouting, catching the brunette's attention. "Why are you laughing, San? Did I do something wrong?"

Santana shakes her head and pulls Brittany closer to her, giving the blonde a tight-lipped smile. "No, you're perfect, B. And for the record, there's no 'women' to turn on the morning after. No one else from now on. Just you. Only you."

 _Britt, don't squeal. Please. Don't fucking squeal!,_ Brittany thinks to herself.

Brittany tries to fight the butterflies in her stomach and the big-ass smile on her face by biting her lip. Oh, Santana. Why does she always have to take her breath away like this? Disregard the freaking perfectly naked body under her. Just being subjected to the brunette's stare on her like this as if she's the only girl in the world is enough to send her to the heavens. No second thoughts about Santana's words are needed because you can feel that it's true. You can feel the honesty and sincerity shining through.

"Don't stare at me like that, babe. I feel like I'm melting." Santana mentions, turning all red in the face. _Santana, don't you fucking let out a sound! Bitch, don't you dare!,_ Santana thinks.

"Aww… I didn't know you're capable of blushing, San."

"Well, you happened." The brunette replies and catches Brittany aback by turning them over on the bed, positioning herself on top of the blonde. "By the way, isn't it that after today's fundraiser thing, we'll finally know if you got the syndication?"

Brittany sighs and seemingly shuts down. "Y-Yeah.. I-I.. I don't' know, San. I-I'm nervous-"

The look on the blonde immediately makes Santana regret bringing up. Way to ruin the moment. "Hey, baby." Santana utters and holds her by the chin to face her once again. "You'll get this, okay? I just know you will. I believe in you."

It could have been when she heard Santana call her 'baby' or the part where the brunette comforted her, but she can't deny that it's effective. Though if she's going to be honest, the syndication is something she couldn't care less right now. It's a bonus, yeah. But, the fact that Santana seemingly feels the same way that she does without actually saying it out loud _yet_ makes her feel like a winner already. Cliché or not.

"Thanks, San." Brittany replies with a nod then suddenly remembers a vital part of the charity thing later. "Wait. You do know that the fundraiser is all about the swimming competition later, right? You do know how to swim, don't you?"

Santana chuckles and shrugs. "Yes, you've already told me that, once or twice before. And yes, I swam a little in high school, I won't die, Britt."

Brittany lets out a sigh of relief then smirks again. "Oh, I'll get to see you in a swimsuit later then."

"Yeah. A sexy swimsuit, actually." Santana returns the smirk and kisses Brittany on the lips tenderly. Starting out slow and gentle but of course, there's only so much self-control you can do when you have someone as stunning as Brittany to be intimate with. Not long after, Santana finds herself nipping on the girl's ear a little, slowly moving for the neck, then going for Brittany's collarbone, which she found to be the blonde's weak spot, as she feels her up. Brittany moans by how good it feels and the goosebumps all over her body are just, wow.

But before they can go further, the sound of growling interrupts the moment, making them lose it as they crack up.

"I'm sorry! You know how I can be without food." Brittany utters with a big grin when Santana lifts her head from the pillows under her.

"Yeah. It's pretty cute, actually." Santana says through her chuckle. "Come on, now. Let's clean up and get food before we get going. It's on me."

"Oh, look at you, big spender. First, a console. Then now it's free breakfast. How much of a bonus did you really get? You don't really know what do with it, don't you?"

"It's big enough to buy you a whole closet of lingerie, babe."

Brittany smirks and gets up from the bed, slowly walking towards the bathroom and glancing a bit back to see the brunette leering at her. "You don't need to buy me new ones, 'babe'. Besides, they'll only end up on the floor anyway." She adds with a wink before entering the bathroom to clean up.

Santana sighs and shakes her head in disbelief. This girl is going to be the absolute death of her. Probably the only girl who can take her by surprise and keep her on her feet, which makes total sense by how head over heels she is now over her. She can't wait to hear the moment she'd get to say that she's in love with the blonde out loud. Seriously can't wait for it. Soon. Probably after the fundraiser later.

"San!" Brittany exclaims, taking her out of her trance as she looks up to see the naked blonde grinning and motioning for her from the bathroom. "What are you still doing there? Get your ass over here now!"

Santana laughs it off but nevertheless complies. It doesn't matter if there's no label yet to what they are now or that they haven't talked about it. It's pretty clear that they're not trying to pressure the other and that's what's good about this. But what she's sure about is she whipped.

Yep. Totally whipped.

* * *

After taking a while to get ready since they alternately kept on interrupting the other and grabbing breakfast at a nearby café before completely leaving for Long Island, they finally arrive after an hour and a half at their destination. They had just pulled up the car not more than a minute ago beside possibly one of the biggest houses they've both seen in their lives.

"Nothing like a house with its own zip code." Santana jests as they get a good look of a big, gray house with a rustic charm.

"Well, what did we expect?" Brittany replies, fidgeting with her yellow Sunday dress then takes a deep sigh when the nervousness and fatigue catches up with her. Something that doesn't go unnoticed by Santana who faces her and holds her by the shoulder for comfort.

"Hey, calm down, okay? I'll be right beside you throughout the whole thing. And we won't know for sure until after the swimming competition, right? Just stick with me, B. We'll go through this together."

Brittany absentmindedly nods at the girl's words and takes a few deep breaths for good measure. She has to believe in herself on this. She can do this. She can fucking do this. "You're right, San. Let's do this." She adds with a smile as she motions to walk towards the house but then looks back and notices the confusion on Santana's face. "San, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Santana hesitates to speak, afraid to hear the answer or the uncertainty of what beholds Brittany's words but she really can't afford not to say because not only does the blonde know her well but then again, they are still best friends. They tell each other everything.

"B-Britt, after this- U-Uhmm.." Santana trails off and looks down for a second. "This is the last time I'll be pretending to be Jamie, so u-uh… W-What happens after this? T-To us?"

Brittany stares at her for a moment, trying to think of the best way to put it as to not get ahead of herself or that of Santana but then again, she's not really good in sugarcoating anything with the brunette.

"I don't know for sure but I hope we're on the same page about wanting for things to go forward."

Santana smiles as soon as Brittany lets go of words that make her heart flutter like crazy. She doesn't get to reply anymore though because before she gets to say anything else, Brittany intertwines their hands and looks at her with the sweetest smile.

"Ready to go, San?"

Santana smugly grins at her and winks. "Please. Those bitches don't know what's coming for them." She adds with utmost confidence as they go proceed to go inside the mansion.

* * *

Following the usual greetings to a handful of important people and random fans, they finally settle themselves and try to get a breather by the corner of the courtyard as they wait for the program to start. One thing that they've notice though is that acting like a couple is more natural now. The hugs are real. The kisses are genuine. And the stares when the other isn't looking is something made of dreams. This day couldn't go any better or at that matter, be ruined at all.

Or so they thought.

"Ladies!" The familiar annoying voice of Dani exclaims and they see her approaching them, wearing a slightly PG version of a maroon Sunday dress.

"Dani." Santana utters with a bored tone while pulling Brittany closer to her by the waist, making Brittany smile a little deep inside when she sees Dani's eyes glance her way. _Take that bitch,_ Brittany thinks.

"Jamie." Dani utters with a flirty tone and smirk while doing a once over on Santana. "Brittany." She follows up but only does a quick look at the blonde that was more of just an eye roll rather than anything else.

"Dani." Brittany returns with the same cold tone and for good measure or more like for further insult, she cozies more comfortably into Santana's embrace as she snakes an arm around her waist and the other just around the brunette's stomach, well, abs. Definitely sexy abs. It's not like she cares about Dani's glare upon seeing the scene but then again, Santana is hers. Only hers.

Well, for Santana. She's not exactly sure what's happening right now or maybe she's just that clueless. Nonetheless, she likes the attention Brittany's giving her right now. She's even welcoming it with open arms. Oh, yeah.

"How are you doing today?" Dani says with her whole attention directed at Santana only, completely disregarding Brittany's presence.

"W-Well, I'm good. We're good. J-Just awesome. Right, Britt?" Santana rambles on nervously, not knowing how to act when someone who has crush on her makes a pass at her in front of the girl she's with. How do you even have time to react to this shit? How do people even act to this scary situation? Instead of panicking all the more, she turns her attention to Brittany instead but finds herself looking back and forth at these two women who are having the stare down of a lifetime.

"Yeah, we are. We're very happy and contented and well, just happy that we're together." Brittany says with her hard glare and raised eyebrow still on Dani who's not letting up as well.

"Ain't that amusing?" Dani replies bitterly. "I'm sure Jamie's having the time of her life with someone who's as exciting as you." She adds sarcastically.

Brittany chuckles and smirks upon hearing the words. "Exciting is an understatement since my girlfriend cannot be more tired and sleepy because of last night's… Hmm… How do I put it without you getting jealous and envious like the little girl that you are right now?"

"Uhmm… Babe, I-I.. U-Uh…" Santana stutters as she glances at Brittany then back at Dani who's gritting her teeth right now.

"Please. Me? Jealous? Come on. I have nothing to be jealous about you, Brittany."

"Oh, there's plenty, Dani." Brittany counters with a stern voice as she lets go of her hold from Santana and takes a step forward.

"Believe me when I say that you're just generally boring and it's probably your dumb luck and fame that got you Jamie." Dani replies while taking a step forward as well, only a few inches from Brittany now.

"Hey! You can't talk to Brittany like that-" Santana defends her but gets cut off by Brittany herself.

"But isn't that what you did to get the job? Kiss ass your way? I mean, that's probably your major back in college."

Apply cold water to burned area.

It took all Santana had in her not to laugh and cheer for Brittany but just as Dani's about to retaliate, the deafening sound of microphone static disrupts the tension followed by the unmistakable voice of Carole Hummel that echoes throughout the whole place.

"Good afternoon everyone! It's that time of the year again, welcome to our annual fundraiser for underprivileged children!" Carole exclaims and everyone applauses. "Also, this year is special since today is the day the board will be announcing who gets the syndication between two wonderful ladies, Dani Harper from one of the highest rated talk shows, 'Straight Talk with Dani'!," She pauses as everyone cheers. "And Brittany Pierce from the fan favorite hit show, 'Romantically Speaking'!" She adds and everyone hurrahs for both women. Momentarily, Carole motions for Dani and Brittany to come towards the front.

"Do me proud, B." Santana whispers in the girl's ear.

Brittany looks back at her and nods while wearing a big grin. "I will, babe." She says before sneaking a tender kiss on Santana's lips, the latter returning the action by pulling her closer and kissing her deeper for a second. Something she will never get enough of. Ever.

Soon, both radio hosts oblige while pretending that the tension earlier was nonexistent. They may be each other's nemesis but of course, they are also professionals.

"So, for the first part of our little fundraiser, these two wonderful ladies will take questions from the audience for a hundred dollar each. Again, one question for either Brittany or Dani equals a hundred dollars. So, choose wisely or rather, ask away!" Carole cries out and both women nod as they take their seats on bar stools behind them. When Brittany finally settles, she searches for Santana among the people and immediately sees her waving and grinning back at her then doing a simple wink, making her heart flutter a little.

Oh, love. What a splendid thing.

"And on with the show, who would like to ask first? Don't be shy now, darlings!" Carole exclaims and upon searching for someone to ask, she sees a woman raising a hand. "Oh, we have one! Alright, Jennifer, to whom is your question directed?"

"Well, will it cost me if I ask for advice about the finances in my relationship?" The woman asks upon being handed a wireless microphone.

"Oh, of course, honey. Now, who would you like to ask?"

Dani opens an umbrella to shade herself and holds up the microphone upon hearing that she's likely the one to be asked the questi-

"Oh. Then my question is for Brittany." This Jennifer counters with a sweet smile, oblivious to Dani's ire about the situation, while she takes out a hundred dollar bill and puts it in the fish bowl that's being carried around by someone.

Brittany smiles and raises her microphone. "Hi! What's your question?"

"Hello, Brittany!" Jennifer trails off. "So, my boyfriend and I have been dating for two years now and recently, he just asked me to marry him but I still haven't answered because I'm afraid that it will all lead to heartbreak and disappointment. I do love him so much and he's the most wonderful man I've ever met but I'm just so afraid to get my heart broken after so many times before. What should I do?"

Brittany nods and thinks what to say for a second as she looks back at the woman asking for advice.

"You know, Jennifer. I believe that love is a risk. Many of us here have gotten our hearts broken more times than we can count and in return, we find it hard to trust not only in ourselves but also the ones we love wholeheartedly when it comes to relationships. The feeling of being abandoned and hurt again is probably the worst feeling ever. But…" Brittany pauses to take a breath and think of the words to follow her thought. But then, she sees Santana nodding at her just behind the woman and like magic, the words almost leave her seamlessly and without effort.

"But when you find that person. That one individual who can make your heart beat faster and slower at the same time no matter how cliché that may sound, you should never let them go. You should tell yourself that it's okay to risk it because if that person makes you feel amazing like no one has ever done before, then that's already something special. Sometimes it's okay to lay it all on the line and give all of you to that person because in return, they would gladly do the same and do everything for you because that person loves you. The way I see it, your boyfriend is willing to go through heaven and hell for you and I'm sure he'd gladly do so. What I can say is that maybe you should trust in yourself a little and look deep within you to open up yourself to how much great of a love he has. Then finally you'll realize that what you have is something only a few people can have and so many could dream of." Brittany ends her speech with her gaze still at Santana who's smiling back at her.

The trance they're seemingly under only disappears when everyone breaks out into 'aww's and 'ooh's through the deafening applause as the woman thanks her. Brittany can only nod while still trying to get a hold of herself and her overwhelming for Santana.

"What a wonderful advice!" Carole comments and everyone cheers to that as they agree with her. "Okay now, moving on. Who has another question?" She exclaims and thereafter, sees a man raising his hand and calls for him as he takes out a hundred dollar bill.

"I have a question for Dani." The man trails off as Dani faces him with full attention. "Hello Dani, my question is, if I take a Section 179 deduction on the full purchase price of a vehicle, can I depreciate anything on the vehicle on future-year returns?"

"You mean as basis?"

"Yes."

"Then, no. You must reduce your basis in the property by the Section 179 deduction. So, you won't have any basis in the property to depreciate in future years." Dani replies confidently. Everyone nods knowingly and a few breathe a sigh of relief. Dani may be a bitch but she damn well knows what she's doing and somehow a complete professional in it.

"Well, what a relief!" Carole mention and a few from the audience chuckle. "Okay. Who's next?"

"I have a question." A familiar raspy voice exclaims from the back. The audience parts to unveil Santana grinning, holding up a hundred dollar bill and a champagne glass in the other. "I have a question for Brittany."

The few familiar ones who do know her suddenly scream for joy and out of pure recognition that she'll be the one asking the question. Especially Brittany.

"Oh, ladies and gentlemen and for those who aren't familiar with this beautiful woman, this is Jamie, Brittany's girlfriend." Carole exclaims and the audience applauses and a few others squeal while Santana just politely smiles back at everyone.

Brittany chuckles at how cute the brunette's antics are. "What is your question, pretty lady?" She adds and a few audience members chuckle.

"Well, it's actually pretty simple." Santana pauses for dramatic effect with her stare still trained on Brittany. "Do you believe in true love?"

 _Oh my god. Put down the microphone and do not squeal. Just. Fuck.,_ The blonde thinks to herself amidst all the evident blushing.

Brittany grins widely as she looks down for a moment to gather herself. Give it to Santana for making the butterflies in her stomach flutter for probably the hundredth time today. Stunning, intelligent, funny, sexy, and don't forget about her being amazing in bed. Wow. Santana is literally the epitome of perfect and she's probably the luckiest woman in the world to have the girl in her arms. She looks up back again after a few seconds to see Santana smiling softly at her and again, it takes her breath away in the most wonderful of ways.

"I do now." Brittany replies with a soft tone but with so much meaning deep within.

The butterflies, the obvious feelings they have for each other coming to light, and just about everything else. What could go wrong, right?

* * *

After an hour of answering a few more questions, they finally move on to the next part of the fundraising program as everyone scurries to prepare: the swimming competition.

"That was interesting." Brittany utters as they walk towards the dressing room to get ready.

"I think it was fun, you know. Money for advice. Kind of smart." Santana replies as she glances at Brittany.

"It was. Are you good to swim though? It's going to be me, you, and two other people against the Hummels and two random friends of theirs."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just a little more and we-"

"Brittany!" Carole accidentally cuts Santana off and motions for the blonde to approach them just a couple of feet away.

"They're calling for you. I think it's something important." Santana mentions with her gaze directed at the Hummels.

Brittany nods. "I think you should go ahead with changing, I'll just follow you inside."

"Don't take too long, honey." Santana says with a flirty tone as she slowly walks away from Brittany. "And I hope you do come, if you know what I mean." She adds before entering the dressing room in an extension of the villa.

Momentarily, she finally finishes changing into her black one-piece swimsuit with a little slit in the middle, just enough to show her cleavage. Why settle with Speedos when you can go a notch higher and bring sexyback to them right?

"Santana?"

An unfamiliar voice calls out behind her and makes her freeze as she checks herself out in the mirror. Uh-oh. Someone called her Santana in a place she's known as Jamie. Not a good indicator.

She slowly turns around to see someone she doesn't know. An unfamiliar woman grinning back at her and approaching at record-breaking time.

"U-Uh… W-Wait. Do I know you? H-Have I-"

"Oh, Santana! You are such a joker and so hot in that swimsuit! And why is everyone calling you Jamie? I mean, like are you one of those psychos who have like, double per-" This woman with a godawful valley girl accent rambles on but is immediately shut up by Santana who holds a hand over her mouth.

"Look, I'm not really sure who you are but I'd appreciate if you keep your voice down, okay? Nod if you understand." Santana whispers. Valley girl nods at her. Santana sighs and releases the girl while thinking of a way to address the situation. "Listen to me, I have an idea that maybe we've had sex before-"

"We did and it was the best I've ever had!"

Santana nods hesitantly. "U-Uh… Cool. You see, I'm kind of in the middle of something here so I'd really appreciate if you keep your space."

"I will but why do they call you Jamie? Just answer that and I'll leave you alone."

Santana sighs and not knowing what to do anymore for this girl to leave her alone, just comes up with something random but nonetheless, a smart answer. "It's a codename? Like, you know, a pen name?"

Valley girl looks back at her curiously. "A pen name? You're an author? But I thought you were in finance or something?"

"Y-Yeah. But you know, like an author in a playing field. J-Just, yeah." She says and waves a hand in disregard. "L-Look, I would love to chat some more but you'll have to excuse me. Goodbye!" She adds before literally jogging away from the girl with a gym bag in hand, disregarding the calls from behind.

She goes on to hide beside the courtyard stairs, a little hidden from everyone which is ideal since she wanted to lose the random girl from a while ago and a good waiting place for when Brittany is done changing. She's just minding her own business, checking work emails on her phone when she feels someone looking at her. And true enough, she looks up to see Dani alighting the stairs beside her in a barely there swimsuit that is not in any way good for swimming. It's not even made for swimming.

"Hey, Jamie." Dani utters with a seductive tone when she's only a feet away from Santana.

"H-Hey, Dani." Santana replies as she hides her phone in the bag, a little hesitant to even say hello or even look at her. Because, swimsuit!

"You look hot as hell, as usual."

"O-Oh. U-Uh.. Thanks. Y-You look nice too."

"Thanks. I just put this together in a hurry. By the way, who's Santana?" Dani says and catches Santana off guard in shock.

Fuck.

 _Think of a way to cover this shit up!,_ Santana thinks to herself.

"W-Well, uh… Where did you hear that?" Santana replies, squinting her eyes at the girl and being careful as fuck.

"The dressing room. You're not the only person changing in there, you know."

"U-Uh… Santana is uh…Y-You know, a n-name that's uhmm.." Santana trails off, probably looking like she's suffering from constipation.

 _FUCKKKK! What the fuck do I fucking do?!,_ Santana thinks again to herself.

Dani chuckles at how funny the girl looks right now as if she's battling an inner demon. "Are you okay? You look like you need to go to the toilet or something."

"I-I.. I-I'm good. O-Okay."

Dani hesitantly nods at her. "So, this Santana, if I heard correctly back there is a name you used to get around? Pen name? I'm confused."

"W-Well, not exactly like-" Santana raises both eyebrows, unsure how to go around this shit. _Let the Santana thing go, you fucking bitch!_

"But you did get around a lot before? I mean, I'm not even sure why I'm asking this since you're absolutely stunning so, yeah. It's all good though."

 _All good? The fuck is this girl talking about?_ She's got to get away from here before Dani goes somewhere a little more dangerous. More dangerous. She thinks that maybe Brittany's done by now and she should just meet her at the top of the stairs or maybe just go and wait for her inside the dressing room.

Well, that's what she wanted to do but then, the next five seconds happened a little too fast. One second, she's looking back at Dani who's staring at something above her, then the next one, is the thing she feared the most to happen to her.

Dani kisses her.

It was too sudden. Too fast. It was too quick for Santana to even react because when she finally realizes what's happening, Dani's already pushing her up the wall behind her with the girl's hand all over face. And when everything comes crashing down on her, she's never felt so angry, so filled with rage in what must have only been five seconds.

* * *

Then there's Brittany.

After greeting a few friends of the Hummels that are fans of her show, she goes to the dressing room to change in a haste since Santana's nowhere to be found anymore and well, she wants to show off her navy-blue one piece swimsuit that have slits on the waist and on the middle just between her breasts to show off her cleavage. Santana would definitely like this. Definitely.

When she's finally done, she grabs her stuff, and makes her way towards the pool house. She's not really sure where Santana is since there's no message or anything but if she knows the girl well enough that she's probably hiding somewhere hidden from the people who'd want to grill her about random stuff. As she reaches the stairs not far away from the pool house, she hears a few murmurs. Like someone talking about something secretly. She disregards it though because she's just so excited to see Santana, even humming a random happy song. Maybe that's just how people who are in love are. Cheesy people.

But that's not the case when she's finally at the middle of the stairs and the murmuring suddenly stops.

Then she hears a thud. An instantaneous thud.

Maybe it's because of the suddenness of it all that makes her glance at where the sound came from but the moment that she does though, she regrets it instantly. At first, it was kind of hazy. She sees two women kissing which isn't a big deal in itself but when she realizes who these two women a few feet away from her are. She regrets it bigtime. Because the moment she recognizes that it's Santana and Dani making it out, it feels like her heart just cracked into a hundred pieces. As if someone just poked a stake right into her heart and for more insult, drove a bus over her and put it in reverse.

Fuck. Her heart.

Brittany looks down downtrodden then looks away as tears pool her eyes, uncontrollably shaking while she's at it. It could have only been a mere few seconds but this can't be real life, right? After all those fluttering butterflies ago then this? Maybe it is real. But why? Why does Santana have to do this to her? Why Dani? So many questions. She can't really believe things as she sees them at first glance right? Santana told her that she's the only one now. But sometimes the way you see them is how it actually is. Then again, she really can't expect Santana to change colors overnight.

Not knowing what to do and the fact that Santana didn't really see her catching them in the act. She runs away to the poolhouse and tries to act for a moment that nothing's wrong and nothing really happened because for as long as she can remember, this is all an act for them.

It's just for publicity. That's a fact.

* * *

 **Sorry?**

 ***If I don't get to update this Thursday then by default, next one will be on Sunday again.**

 **We still have a few more chapters. I announce updates and stuff over tumblr as well as answers to story questions. Same handle as kpgleek13 :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you again for everything! :)**

 **We still have 2-3 chapters left on this one.**

* * *

"Get the fuck off of me!" Santana scoffs as she forcefully pushes Dani away from her, eyebrows scrunched in a mix of confusion and anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Dani sarcastically chuckles, dramatically wiping smudged lipstick from the corner of her lips. "What do you think? I think it's pretty obvious that I have the hots for you. You have such soft lips. Great for kissing."

"What the fuck, Dani? You can't just jump on people like that!"

"Would you prefer that I begged on my knees and asked you to fuck me?" Dani smirks and crosses her arms.

Santana growls and shakes her head in disbelief as she gathers her stuff, having enough of this. Fucking unbelievable! In any other day a few months ago, she would have grabbed the chance and had her way with this girl without any second thoughts. But no, everything's different now. It's not just the Brittany factor. For her, no matter which angle she would look at it, she can't seem to grasp the idea of doing anything intimate other than Brittany again. She's in love with Brittany. That's the only reason she needs.

"Stay away from me, you bitch." Santana sneers.

"Oh please. You liked it!" Dani exclaims back and slowly approaches Santana once more. "Come on, baby. How about we take this to one of the beds upstairs? Well, a bed is definitely optional if you want to be adventurous."

The nerve of this fucking bitch.

Santana holds a hand up and makes Dani stop from taking a step further towards her. "Don't ever, ever call me 'baby' again." The brunette says and leans towards Dani with a death glare. "Approach me again, talk to me again, and I swear I will fucking skin you alive and make you an appetizer for the dogs to eat. Do you fucking understand?"

Dani gulps and tries to act unfazed but Santana sees right through it, making her smirk and declare victory on her part. She doesn't add anything else and walks toward the event are as she leaves the girl behind her shaking and a bit embarrassed at being turned down like that.

Dani takes a few deep breaths and brushes off the encounter. Fuck Jamie and her morals or whatever. Brittany's probably the lamest girl she's met. Dani's tired of the blonde's miss goody two shoes act like the bitch is fucking Virgin Mary. Instead of stressing about it, she suddenly remembers a vital part of the conversation from a while ago and smirks to herself as she fetches her phone from her clutch bag that fell on the ground earlier. Slowly, she searches for the name she'd been trying to find and after a few seconds, dials said number. The other line picks up after a few rings.

"Rory?" Dani exclaims with a bored expression and almost doesn't let the other line speak. "Do you still want to make it in the radio industry? Good. I need you to do something for me. I want you to find out whatever you can about Jamie, Brittany's girlfriend. Oh, and check out the name Santana for possible connections to Brittany as well, will you, sweetheart?" Dani utters nonchalantly with a devilish grin.

* * *

The Hummels' Indoor Pool Area is the stuff made for dreams. It's huge as hell with ceiling painting and ocean-like painted walls, it generally boasts about the most modern stuff known to men. Numerous deckchairs, benches for the event, diving boards, big ass changing and powder rooms, Jacuzzis, and more. But the pool itself is an Olympic sized one with marble designs underneath rather than those plain ones.

Momentarily, Santana finally finds Brittany by the corner at the pool area. She glances at her watch to see that there's still about five minutes before the event starts and judging from the way everyone's scrambling, it's about to start soon. She looks back at the events from a few minutes ago and tries to shake it off instead. Fuck Dani and her plans. So not fucking cool. At least no one saw right? It doesn't matter now though because she seemingly forgets everything and smiles to herself upon seeing Brittany. Even more so when she's only a couple of feet away because fuck, Brittany's a sight in that swimsuit!

"Wow. Y-You look amazing, Britt." She gushes with a dopey grin but suddenly falters when she sees the look on Brittany's face. She prides herself on knowing the girl well but this one is something she's not familiar with. She's sure she has seen it before somewhere or numerous times but now, she can't place it.

"Thanks." Brittany replies nonchalantly without looking at Santana as she hides her phone in her bag.

"So, I was thinking that maybe we could duck out after we smoke their asses out for some little loving, you know..." The brunette teases with a smirk but only gets a shrug from Brittany who seems bored and disinterested from everything.

"Haven't you already gotten some?"

Santana's face scrunch up a little, not really quite figuring out what's happening here and quite taken aback by the blonde's bitter tone and general disdain.

"Uhmm.. Is everything okay, babe?"

"I don't know. Is everything okay, babe?" Brittany snaps back in a mocking tone finally looking back at her, surprising Santana when she stands up and goes on to walk away from her.

What the hell?

 _"Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to start to program. Please take to your places as we are going to start with our first race for today, the 4x100 freestyle women's relay..."_

Santana blocks out the announcement because for one, she couldn't care less. What she wants to know though is what's up with Brittany. Disregarding everything, she tries to find the girl among the crowd, it's only when she hears their name being called for the race that she sees her by their designated area and lane stretching out.

"Hey, Britt. What's wrong?" Santana asks worriedly while Brittany just seems to ignore her as she warms up and continues stretching.

 _"Again, our first race for today is the blue team composed of Brittany Pierce, Jamie Ryan..."_

"Nothing is wrong. Just drop it. Get stretching or something because I won't save you when you drown."

 _"The relay will start in two minutes, please gather your team and go to your designated places."_

"Well, I find it hard to believe that nothing's wrong when all you've been doing is snap on me like this." Santana quips back as she starts stretching herself.

"Hello ladies! Brittany will go first, I reckon. Then you, miss Jamie, will be last." Random teammate # 1 in her 40's greets them and they just politely nod in agreement.

"We can do this! Let's make them eat our chlorine based pool water!" Random teammate #2 in her mid-30's adds and disappears to stretch before they get to react.

"So?" Santana turns to face Brittany again after a moment as she stands up from stretching her legs, a bit impatiently this time.

"Well, when you see the girl you thought you have feelings for and had an amazing time with last night making out with the person who's been trying to sabotage you from the very start then I doubt you'd been jumping for joy now, are you?" Brittany sneers with a hard glare at Santana.

Santana mouth drops and her heart stops beating for a second.

Fuck.

"B-Britt..."

 _"Take to your places everyone..."_

"You don't have to explain anything, San. You never had to." Brittany whispers with a sad tone as she finishes stretching and positions herself on the elevated granite paving decking, igniting a bunch of confusing and heavy feelings in Santana upon hearing those words and the blonde calling her by her real name.

Santana remains frozen in her place with Brittany's back towards her. She wonders whether or not she should explain right now, let it go, or just tell Brittany the whole damn truth. She can't explain but it hurts her in a weird way that Brittany's like this towards her. It's as if a needle had been pricked in her heart, making it not only hard for her to breathe but digest everything's happening. In the past, she would just usually leave and get out before drama like this would ensue. Actually, she couldn't care any less before. Once there's tears, stress, or drama involved, she's out of there before you can even blink or beg for her to come back.

But this is different. This is Brittany.

Instead of walking away like she always does, Santana takes a long deep breath and decides that there is no way in hell she's going to give up on her. So, for the first time in her life, she goes on to approach a girl and try her best to make everything alright.

"Britt, hear me out, okay? Just please-"

 _"Swimmers… The race will start at the sound of the whistle."_

Brittany looks over her shoulder and shrugs while fixing her swimming cap and goggles. "I said, it's okay. Just leave it be. The race is about to start, let's focus now."

 _"3…"_

"No. I'm not having it, Britt. You need to listen to me. You've got it all wrong!"

 _"2…"_

Brittany sighs and turns her body halfway to face Santana. "What is there to explain?! Dani had her tongue in your throat and you seemed to be liking it enough so really, what really is there to explain?!" Brittany snaps back and goes back to assume her position, leaving Santana gaping.

 _"1…"_

In a flash, a gun goes off signaling the start of the race and everyone who's supposed to go first, jumps into the pool as they race one another to do a lap as fast they could then the next one does the same for the relay until the whole team finishes.

Santana's left baffled by this. She's just about to say something, anything to change Brittany's mind when that fucking gun had to interrupt their moment. So, here she is, like a fucking idiot staring at Brittany who's swimming away from her. Not like that there's a difference when she's on land because as far as it concerns her. Nothing she can do as of the moment than to wait dumbly for Brittany to come back and think of the hundred things that's going on in her mind and filter all the nasty and swear words that's been brewing in it.

"Are you okay, honey?" Random teammate #1 asks worriedly as she gets ready herself, being next an all. Santana only nods absentmindedly and walks to the back of the line just as her brain goes into overdrive.

Damn Dani and her freaking evil plans. Whatever that bitch has on her mind, it's certainly not really helping because Santana's had about enough of it. Now, it's not really flying with her. The last thing that she'd want is for Brittany being like this and lashing out at her. An hour ago, they were probably the happiest couple-esque and now, fuck this shit. She feels like her brain is about to explode from thinking too much and her heart about to combust from so much hatred and feelings waiting to come out. Not even the loud, cheering crowd is drowning out her thoughts.

Momentarily, Brittany comes back from doing her lap as she leads the race. The moment she touches the side of the pool, Random teammate #1 jumps next and goes on to do the same lap, while Random teammate #2 helps her out of the pool. She takes a breath upon being handed with a towel by some kid, watching the race a bit but subtly searching for Santana among the crowd.

"You know, you're wrong about me, Brittany." The familiar raspy voice utters behind her, making her jump a little. When they lock eyes, she really doesn't know what to say so instead of going on about how angry and hurt she is, she just lets Santana continue first.

"You're wrong about me liking her or anything else. I'm done with all those women, okay? I've told you already. Why can't you believe me?" The brunette adds with eyebrows scrunched up.

Brittany doesn't respond. She doesn't move. She only looks at the girl with a heartbroken look. Hearing those words again only makes her want to slap herself for actually believing in them. She took a risk. She acted on her feelings for someone she's not supposed to be in love with and she failed. Words cannot explain or convey how she feels right now because it just plain sucks.

"You can't change overnight and I know that. But I don't like games and people who make me feel stupid. Last night was a mistake for us. Let's just move on and leave it at that." Brittany utters nonchalantly in a cold tone. She stands up, trying to hold back the tears that she can't believe are in her eyes, turns around to leave the venue but Santana holds her back by the arm and looks straight into her eyes.

"We're not done talking, Britt. You've gotta stop this. You weren't there before she kissed me. You don't know what happened!"

Brittany sizes up next to Santana while trying to act all normal as to not gather attention among them.

"I don't need to be there to know what happened, San. She kissed you and for all I know, you kissed her back. And, that's fine!." Brittany whispers with a hard tone. "You can do anything with your life and I can with mine. We're not together. So, just let it go."

Santana breathes deeply for a second. She fucking needs to because anymore of Brittany being like this and her attitude is going to shine bright like a diamond on the blonde. But she is who she is and when she's pushed like this, she goes low or whatever it is just to hurt the other or to make herself feel better. Or herself feel less hurt.

Aunty Snixx has arrived.

"Sure. Because apparently last night was to help you feel better, right?" Santana says with a smirk.

Brittany gives her a questioning look. "What exactly are you insinuating?"

"To get over Jamie. That's what I am, right? A rebound."

 _"And now… we are on to the third swimmer for all the teams! Just one more and we have a winner for the women's relay, everyone!"_ A voice exclaims and for a second, breaks the tension between the two women.

Santana's words cut through Brittany like a stab in the heart. Never had that thought cross her mind. It's funny that Santana mentioned that though because after she and Jamie broke up and she got thrown into this pretending-to-be-her-ex thing with Santana, she never really thought about it again. Of course, there were a few nights that Jamie crossed her mind during when the break up was still fresh but now, it's not really anything to ponder anymore.

"That's not true! I-I moved on from Jamie before uus- _this,_ started!"

"Yeah, right." Santana chuckles sarcastically. "I'm not stupid, Brittany. Don't act like you have no idea about this. This has always been about Jamie. Pretending to be her to get this damn syndication. Jamie who's in the middle of nowhere right now. Jamie this, Jamie that! It's all been about Jamie and nothing about us!"

"You're being unfair with this on me! You're the one who wanted to push through with this act. I told you before that I wanted to tell everyone the truth but you didn't. I told you that my dad wouldn't have-"

Santana mirrors Brittany's death glare and leans closer, trying to size up against the tall girl. "Of course! Your perfect dad! It's always about your dad! No one can match the amazing person that your dad is! That's why Jamie left you because she can't ever, and so does everyone else including me, replace him. You're freaking perfect and everyone knows that. But fuck this. No one is good enough for you, Brittany!"

"You're more than good enough for me but you just chose to break my heart!"

 _"The Blue team is now leading the race and in just a few seconds, we will be on our fourth and last swimmer for the relay!"_ The announcer declares over the microphone.

Brittany and Santana share hard looks with no one backing down. Santana tries to calm down and not show any emotion. But that last statement from Brittany, those words almost makes her surrender from all the fighting and just kiss and have the best makeup sex with the girl. However, it's Brittany who breaks it off upon realizing that the last swimmer for their team is Santana. A fuming Santana at that.

"You have to go there. You're up next." Brittany whispers in a defeated tone.

"No. We're not finished talking." Santana replies sternly with eyes still trained on Brittany.

"But you have to go there now. We're going to lose!"

 _"And the Blue team finishes the lap but…"_ The announcer looks around genuinely confused. _"…their last swimmer, Jamie, is nowhere to be found. Is this considered a default now? Every team has now caught up with them, with their last swimmers now in the pool!"_

"You have to get in the pool!" Brittany whispers, a few people around them stare while a few try to eavesdrop.

Santana breathes deeply. As much as she wants to whisk away Brittany and tell her everything that she wants to say, everything that's been on her mind for the longest time, she can't. Not just yet. So, instead of attracting more attention and letting her competitors smoke their asses, she takes a deep breath and heads for the pool. She doesn't even look back at Brittany or anyone, she just dives straight into it and swim as fast as she could, throwing a lot more effort than she should have as she catches up to the others. Sadly, no amount of strain or hurt could make her body feel how badly her heart is aching right now.

Bittersweet. That's what this will be when she wins this for them while her world is crumbling around her.

* * *

Santana wins the race by the skin of her teeth.

As soon as they are declared the winner, Brittany goes to the nearest shower and changing room in the venue to wash up and get away from awhile while Santana does the same but somewhere far away. Hopefully a little space would clear their minds out. After changing and getting themselves ready for dinner and the impending announcement, Santana sees Brittany drinking champagne by the corner, deep in thought.

"Brittany!" Santana voices out as she fixes her blue floral Sunday dress.

Brittany looks up just in time to see Santana approaching her by the side. "We're done talking, San. Let's just wait for the syndication announcement then we'll be done with it." She whispers.

"Is it true?"

"What exactly?" Brittany asks in a defeated tone, too tired to argue and basically, emotionally exhausted from today's events.

"You think I'm good enough for you?" Santana utters softly with pleading eyes.

Brittany looks down and tries to get it together. She doesn't regret saying that. She regrets not saying it sooner. "You're not just 'good enough', you're way more than that and not just for me but for everyone else, San. More than you know."

"Britt, I told you that I wasn't in on that with Dani. I pushed her away immediately and I said no."

"Well, it didn't look like you were saying 'no' very loudly to me."

Santana takes a deep breath and tries to think of words to properly convey how she feels but to no avail. "What do you want me to do, Britt? I'm here now, right? If I leave you then I'd be just like Jamie."

"This isn't about Jamie, okay? Just stop it." Brittany sighs and doesn't say anything more not because she doesn't know what to say but she doesn't want to force herself on someone who may not wholeheartedly want her. "Maybe this whole pretending-to-be-in-a-relationship thing wasn't such a good idea."

Santana feels like she's suddenly hit with a ton of bricks by that. She never thought that baring her soul out and letting herself open up would result to this. But she can't show that. She can't show that she's weak. Instead, she nods hesitantly. "Y-Yeah. S-So, I guess w-we should go back to being friends?"

Friends. She never thought that a word like that could hurt so much.

Brittany nods once, albeit with no heart at all because she knows deep in her heart that she could never be friends again with someone like Santana who she's fallen deeply in love for. "Y-Yeah. F-Frien-"

"Was last night just sex for you?" Santana cuts her off. Funny because usually, all the girls she's slept with or have been cozying up to in the past would be the ones saying that and of course, she'd break their hearts without thinking about it twice. Fucking ironic that she's on the other end now, desperate for Brittany to say 'no'.

Brittany doesn't even think about it twice. She gives out a small smile and shakes her head, making Santana breathe a little. "Of course not, San. It means everything to me. W-Was it like that for you?"

The stupidity in Santana kicks in. Maybe to protect herself from getting hurt any further. Maybe to hurt Brittany because she hurt her. Or maybe just to make herself feel better. One thing she knows in her heart though is that she shouldn't never have said it but she did anyway. Stupid. So fucking stupid.

"Maybe." Santana utters nonchalantly without looking at Brittany.

And, fuck.

It feels abstract. It feels as if someone just ran her down with a ten wheeler truck. It feels like Brittany's heart had just been removed and stomped on with how painful to hear those words are. Brittany almost bursts out in tears. Was that all she is to Santana? A notch in her bedpost? A conquest? She's never quite had her heart broken like this before and to make it worse, they're not even together. How can you face someone again after hearing something like this? It hurts. It fucking hurts so bad.

If Santana were to actually be honest and actually follow through what she'd really want to say then it means everything to her too. So much more than that. It's the part of baring out her feelings that scares the fuck out of her. Why does she have to be such a coward? Why does have to stoop so low and regret it almost immediately? Why does she have to hurt the person she loves so much and with all her heart?

"I-I…" Santana trails off as she gulps down the big lump in her throat, gathering all the strength she has to say it. "I-I have f-feelings for you, Britt. But I don't think it's a good idea to act on it with everything's that happened, I-I don't know if we can ever go back to being friends again. M-Maybe we should just keep our space first from each other."

It's not quite 'I love you' or 'I want to be with you' but the effect is ultimately negated just the same. Brittany is torn to pieces. She just wants Santana. The whole of Santana with no one to share her with. Then to add insult to the injury, she gets this.

"S-San, I-"

"Brittany, Jamie! There you girls are! We're about to announce who gets the syndication before dinner, come join us in front." Carole exclaims, effectively ruining the moment as she drags them both towards the front of the courtyard where a few people are now situated. They settle beside each other with neither talking. Just standing there as they bathe themselves in the awkwardness.

"Brittany, Jamie." Dani approaches beside them with a smirk but only receives a glare from Santana and gets ignored by Brittany on her side. "I hope there are no hard feelings when they announce my name later. I'd hate for us to ignore each other in the hallways. I could always give you a guest spot every now and then though, you know." She adds with a fake grin, irking only Santana more while Brittany just gives back a small smile.

They may be rivals in the radio industry and as it turns out, personally and romantically as well, but Brittany's a professional and the last thing she'd want is to cause a commotion when she takes this bitch out in front of everyone.

"And now, it gives us great pleasure to do this special announcement on behalf of the Hummel Communications Group. As you all know, during these past few weeks, we've been watching two of the biggest names in radio today or as to fondly put it, listening to them very closely." Carole exclaims as she pauses to flash a grin. "And I'm delighted to announce that the time has come to announce who between these two very special ladies, after some extremely deep consideration, will be getting the syndication as the board have made their decision." She smiles and hands the microphone to Burt who takes it.

"Dani and Brittany, you are both extraordinary hosts and it's been difficult making this decision. So, without further ado, the Hummel Communications Group proudly welcome to the family, Miss…" Burt trails off with a grin while looking alternately at the two nervous radio hosts in front of him but then, rests his gaze on the blonde. "Brittany Pierce!"

The crowd cheers in an instant as Brittany breaks out into a big grin, a bit in disbelief until Santana motions for her to go up while also flashing a genuine grin and clapping. She forgets everything for a moment and obliges to go up to give both Burt and Carole a hug. From this view, she doesn't miss the anger and disappointment on Dani's face as the girl walks out.

"Congratulations, Brittany!" Burt exclaims and the applause grows louder once again while Brittany thanks him and everyone else in the crowd. "Now, why don't we call your fiancée who's really Aquawoman up here for a photo op?" He adds much to everyone's amusement and chuckle.

Santana forces a grin and gets up on stage then forced to stand awfully close to Brittany while Carole calls the board for a photo. Brittany says her thanks and whatnot but a weird feeling settles in her stomach when the brunette's this close to her after having heard all those things a while ago. She admits that it hurts because if it weren't for what she saw and heard earlier, they'd be the happiest couple here celebrating and probably confessing that they love each other if Santana feels that way as well.

On the other hand, it's not like it's that easy for Santana to feel genuinely happy. She'd most likely look like a fool on camera with the uneasiness of all this. Fake grins and all to mask the pain of what they both feel.

After a couple of snaps, they are slowly about to get off from the stage when a grinning Carole stops them. "Alright then. Now, the two of you together. Just you two."

They both take a deep breath and share a quick but pained look as they lean close to each other for the cameras. It makes Santana want to scream and shout when she puts her arm around Brittany's waist but the happy feeling isn't there anymore. Never mind fake grinning for the cameras. The real struggle is to not tear up and walk out of this since there's only so much that someone could take. The sinking feeling when they glance at each other almost at the exact same time together with the 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd are bittersweet. They both know that the other isn't okay with this. The dilemma is moving forward and the question of what happens after today. Everything combined is more than enough to send someone on the edge and struggle to act normally for the publicity. Just for the publicity like usual.

* * *

 **See you on Sunday!**

 **I've received a few questions about this and for everyone who's thinking the same way: No, this story won't end exactly as the movie. Not going to follow it. Nope :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and no one died from the Black Friday sale ;)**

 **And yes, I just updated Magic as well. Happy reading!**

* * *

Two days have passed since Brittany won that syndication contract and well, lost Santana.

It hasn't been easy on her, to say the least. She's just so heartbroken that even with such an achievement of locking the syndication contract, she feels the complete opposite about it. Because one, it was a team effort with Santana and two, acting like everything is normal after that was taxing as hell. She couldn't face Santana nor even bring herself to talk to the brunette. To the point that instead of hitching a ride back to Manhattan, she decided to opt for the train while she cried her eyes out all the way back and until she fell asleep that night.

Maybe.

She never thought that one word could her make feel absolutely devastated. It's hard enough to act strong or that everything's alright. But it's so much worse when the person that she always confides in, the one who holds her when she cries her heart out during these times while spoiling her with every comfort food available to man, the woman who in a snap, makes everything infinitely okay for Brittany is the same person who has hurt her badly. It only pisses her off all the more when she can't do anything about the fact that she's hopelessly and madly in love with Santana throughout all this.

No calls. No messages. No communication whatsoever from each other so far. As much as Brittany would want to talk or just hear Santana's voice, she doesn't want to subject herself to any more pain. Or plain torture herself. She doesn't even know if she would ever want to talk to the brunette again. Right now, she's trying to survive everyday with these problems in her romantic life. Fucking ironic that she gives the best love advice to everyone and she can't seem to apply it on herself.

It's times like these that she wishes more than ever that her father was still here. It's been a few years and not a day goes by without her missing him. One of those things that she misses the most about her dad is Rich Pierce giving the relationship expert herself advice about her love life or comforting her whenever she needs it. Of course, she'll get the occasional speech about the girl she's dating back in the days being bad news and all that but for all it's worth, it's always for the best. As she looks back on it now though, Richard was always very fond of Santana and even put her money on them ending up together. Well, dumb luck. Not gonna happen now, right?

So, here she is, downcast as hell as she's sitting in the radio booth alone, listening to her dad's recorded broadcasts for probably the five hundredth time.

 _"No, Dan. I don't believe in putting all your faith on one member of the team only. That's bullshit! That's why it's called a team. You need to put your faith into them as a whole and they will do the same for each other. It's not just camaraderie being built when you do that. You establish satisfaction, friendship, and respect as top priorities over winning a ring. Instead of placing all that pressure on one player's shoulder, I believe that you should put it upon them all. Less stress and pressure as they come together towards one goal and that is to win. End of story."_ Richard Pierce declares with confidence and bravado, something Brittany have always admired about her father.

"Brittany, what are you still doing here?" A voice calls out from the doorway. Brittany looks up from her gaze at the floor to see Will entering the room. "By the way, congratulations on the syndication contract!"

"Oh, hey, Will. Just listening to old recordings of my dad. Just the usual. And thanks." She utters with a tired tone.

"'Thanks'? Aren't you supposed to be celebrating with Santana or something?"

"Well, I don't need Santana to celebrate with. I can do it alone or with my other friends, I can always do it without her." Brittany counters with a bitter tone and Will could only look at the girl in a bit of confusion.

Upon getting a better look at the blonde, Will recognizes the sadness in Brittany's face as that not ordinarily seen of the blonde missing her dad but as something else. Ever since Brittany's father passed away, he had been a regular fixture in the girl's life, supporting Brittany in any way he can professionally and if needed, personally.

"Hey kid, is everything alright? Did you two have a fight or something?" Will asks innocently as he takes a seat across from Brittany.

"Yeah. All is well. Things just doesn't work out sometimes. We have that syndication and that's what's important, right?" She replies nonchalantly, turning up the volume of the recording playing in the background with an annoyed look but almost instantly, Will turns it back off.

"Is this really all about that syndication and nothing to do with how you feel for Santana?" He whispers, leaning a bit closer. Brittany looks up, a bit taken aback by the statement but she really shouldn't be shocked since Will has known her long before she had her first memory. She doesn't respond and just slowly nods while taking a deep breath. "What happened?"

Brittany fidgets with her fingernails and avoids eye contact with Will. "W-we just fell out."

Will sighs and nods at that, not knowing how to react and deciding against pushing it. He's never really quite seen Brittany like this before so it must be really something that impacted her so much that it had to take the usual quirkiness you see from the girl seemingly thrown out the door. Instead of going on about something only the blonde's dad could deliver, he smiles to himself and talk about one thing he knows will cheer Brittany up even just a little. He stands up and searches for a few records that are safely hidden in a cabinet then takes one of his favorites out of the bunch to play for Brittany.

Upon putting the record on playback, Richard Pierce's voice echoes throughout the booth but instead of the usual perfect takes that he always had, this one is filled with failed takes. Takes laden with mistakes and few of them filled with curses and profanities of the man repeatedly saying wrong words or phrases. A few of them of Rich Pierce being frustrated at the script given to him or the people at the booth outside distracting him. Either way, it's quite amusing for Brittany to listen since she's never really heard her dad like this.

Will and Brittany laugh at the few takes, particularly the ones where her father had his tongue frustratingly twisted at introducing himself. It was short lived though. Upon getting through the first minute, she finally gets enough of it and stops the playback.

"What are you getting at, Will?" She almost snaps back but the man just grins at her.

"I just thought you should hear this."

"What? My dad fumbling around and making mistakes?"

Will chuckles and goes on to sit in front of her again. "Yes. Particularly that it took him a few takes to get things right. That even the best radio host in the country for the last decade was human." He pauses while Brittany seems to think about the whole thing.

"You know, your dad has always been regarded as the best during his time." Will trails off. "Athletes, coaches, name it, they were all very fond of him. Everyone respected him. He was a great man but not even he was perfect. He had flaws and so do you. So does Jamie. So does Santana. Specifically Santana." He pauses again. "But maybe if you look past those flaws, you would see that she's great and perfect in her own way too. That maybe you'd be a great couple but only if you look past the façade, the wall that she may put on sometimes to protect herself from getting hurt like every other human being, and the flaws she has. That she's amazing on her own too. That Santana is only human too." He ends with a smile.

Brittany feels like she's just been hit with a ton of bricks. Will may not be her father but only someone who's known her for as long as he did could say something like that. And if she's going to be honest, Will is right. Maybe she just needed to hear that little speech to help her get herself back on track. To get Santana back. However, before Brittany could reply and completely absorb his words, her phone rings on the table in front of her. She glances to see that it's Puck calling, making her a bit nervous since Quinn's due anytime now.

"Go pick that up, kid. Just remember what I said." He says with a grin before saying goodbye and leaving Brittany alone in the booth once again to contemplate for a second or two. She picks up the phone soon after.

"Hey, Puck. Is everything okay? Is Quinn okay? You need me to look after Beth?" She asks worriedly while packing up and hastily returning everything she used in the booth.

 _"Yeah, everything's good! She's meeting up with Santana to buy something, actually. And Beth is at my mom's for the week, so don't worry about it."_

Santana. Hearing her name produces feelings inside her that she can't seem to describe.

"Oh, cool. What's up?" She utters, desperately trying to veer away from the topic with a seemingly clueless Puck.

 _"I'm almost done babyproofing the whole apartment but I need help with the tables. I wouldn't dare ask Santana about this since she sucks ass with these kinds of things. You think you can give me a hand? I do have chocolate cake here to bribe you with, if that helps."_ Puck chuckles on the other line.

Brittany laughs. "Sure, no problem. That better be the best chocolate cake I've had in my life, Puck." She responds cheerfully then gathers her stuff, locking the booth door behind her. "I'm on my way."

* * *

Brittany.

For the past couple of days, all's that been on Santana's mind, day in and day out, is Brittany. It's been killing her just by thinking how much she hurt the blonde. As if someone had just struck her in the head multiple times, stabbed her in the chest repeatedly, and ran her over with a truck and put it in reverse just for good measure. Actually, saying all those aren't even enough. The pain is just indescribable and almost too much to bear even for her.

Maybe.

Never mind the feelings of guilt that's been killing her. She's fully aware that the moment she said the word she had just probably made the biggest mistake in her life. She can't fathom why she felt the fucking need to say it. It's like word vomit and reflex all rolled up into one. All because she doesn't want to be the loser or for lack of a better way to put it, her walls just came up and she wants the other to feel the pain and hurt it caused her. Fucking stupid reasons.

"Hello? Earth to Santana?" Quinn voices out as she snaps a finger in front of her friend to catch her attention.

Seeing that Quinn's doctor told her that she's about to pop anytime within this week, she's been alternately on lockdown by Puck, Brittany, and Santana while tending to all her wants and needs like the happiest spoiled child right now. So, when the pregnant blonde craved for pineapples and the lucky person she chose to accompany her to the grocery store is Santana, with a bit of side mission of finding out why she and Brittany are avoiding each other like the plague, the brunette can't say no even if she just wants to spend all day sleeping in bed.

"Huh?" Santana gives her a look with her mind somewhere far away.

"I said, this grocery store has nice pineapples. Don't you think?"

"Hmm… I guess so." The brunette replies and absentmindedly checks the apples in front of her.

Quinn sighs at how her friend is acting right now, so not Santana without the witty retorts or insults. "Alright. Spill it." She utters and only receives a curious glance from Santana.

"You and Brittany have been deliberately avoiding each other these past few days and don't give me the excuse that you just can't happen to catch each other at the same time because that's complete and utter bullshit. You weren't even there at her celebratory dinner. Now, Satan, cut to the chase and tell me what the fuck is happening with you two?" She finishes rambling and is a bit shocked when Santana doesn't do her usual comeback or fight against her. This time, it's a look of defeat as her friend stares down at the floor.

"I-It's complicated, Quinn."

"Is it, San? Maybe you're just overthinking it."

"I don't know. It's all too much. Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Who the fuck knows?"

The blonde shakes her head. It's looking to be a bit hard but she might as well dive in head first with the little leeway Santana is providing to get to her. Quinn anchors her arms with that of Santana's then slowly leads her to the baking section aisle.

"Alright. This is going to be one of those real talk things, okay? How about you walk me through everything? From the top."

Santana sighs. As much as she doesn't want to speak up or anything, she really can't find any reason why she shouldn't tell Quinn. Besides, Lucy might pop out a baby right here, right now if she were to upset her friend. Who knows, maybe it could lift some of the burden on her shoulders too.

"W-Well, Brittany and I slept together."

Quinn's eyes immediately widen as she gives Santana a look with utmost surprise. "You had sex?!" She exclaims loud enough that a mother and child glance their way for a second then scurry away the next.

"How about we keep it to ourselves?" Santana scoffs with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, got a little carried away." Quinn fake grins and directs her attention by searching for yeast in the baking aisle. "But you slept together?! Like naked lady loving, orgasmic pleasure driving kisses all over and fing-"

"I don't think I need to describe what 'sex' is to you. You're fucking pregnant with baby number two, Q." Santana cuts her off with a sarcastic chuckle.

Quinn rolls her eyes. "Wait, are we talking about a one-time thing here or a lot more than that?" She whispers without looking at her friend.

"Define 'a lot more than that', Q."

The blonde does a quick glance at the brunette, trying to figure it out for herself. "Did it happen just once then no more or was it an all-night thing with the promise of more afterwards?"

"W-Well…" Santana trails off as she tries to weigh in on it. "The latter, I guess?"

"Y-You mean?..."

"U-Uh… I think it's a little TMI if I go on further." Santana grits through her teeth in all its awkwardness.

Quinn's mouth drops as she gives her friend a shocked look with her hands on both sides of her waist. "Hold the fuck up! This is major fucking news and I only knew about this now?! I'm hurt, Satan. My two best friends finally slept together and I didn't even have an inkling. I'm crying inside, S."

"I thought you weren't interested about my sex life." Santana can't help but smirk at that as she finally hands Quinn the few packets of yeast she's been searching for and places it on their cart.

"Oh, please. I'm still not but when it involves the godmother of the child inside me that doesn't seem to want to leave my body just yet then I'm very much invested to know what the hell happened to lead you girls into not talking to each other. So, tell me everything."

"Does it even matter? It's not as if she'll talk to me any way. And it's not like I'd want to see her anytime soon."

"I call bullshit." Quinn counters with a bored look as she goes on to search for some flour.

"Even if I did, I don't know how I could patch things up with her, Q."

"But why? What did she do? What did you do? How did it all go wrong?"

Santana takes a deep breath as she follows Quinn from behind. "Gosh, Q. You ask more questions than my conscience if I had one."

"Just answer the damn question or I'll shower you with this pack of flour in my hand."

"Alright, alright!" Santana holds up both hands in defense and Quinn smiles to herself at the ceasefire. "It was going well, perfect actually. Then Dani showed up, cornered me, and kissed me out of the blue. And in a rather unfortunate case, Brittany saw it."

"What?! Who the fucking hell is this Dani? Oh my god, it feels like something you'll see in Univision. Poor Brittany, what did she say?"

"Dani was Britt's rival for the syndication. And well, I think we all know how that turned out. Britt and I are not talking, obviously."

"But you must have talked a little about it after, right?" Quinn asks her with a quick glance while putting a box of chocolate chips on their cart.

"We did."

"And?"

"It was okay." Santana shrugs, a bit hesitant to go this route because she knows deep in her heart what would become of her when Quinn knows what she said exactly. Particularly the word that broke Brittany completely.

True enough, Quinn picks up on her uneasiness. "How about you tell me what happened instead of us exchanging less than five word sentences?"

"Nothing happened!" Santana scoffs as she takes a deep breath. It takes her a few seconds to recover and when she looks back at Quinn, she sees her staring back as if she's waiting for her to continue. "We talked and Britt said she was hurt that she saw Dani and I make out when it was really just the bitch ambushing me. I told her that I had nothing to do with it and what she saw wasn't entirely that way. We fought a little about it, her trust issues with me, and my issues with her." She whispers in a defeated tone.

"What exactly are your issues with her?"

Santana shakes her head and just waves a hand in disregard. "I don't want to talk about it anymore, Q. Let's just drop it."

Quinn nods and glances beside her to see Santana looking so downtrodden. It's kind of new to her since she's never really seen the brunette like this before, up close and personal.

"Fine. But just answer one last question for me."

"Will you drop it after?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay, shoot." Santana utters nonchalantly as she fake reads something at the back of a peanut butter jar.

"This is by intuition but, did you say something to upset her so bad that she had to take the train home instead of hitching with you back here?" Quinn asks innocently with a quick glance at Santana then back to searching for puff pastry.

Meanwhile, Santana freezes at the question. Quinn knows the both them too well and it's just one of those questions that she's been dreading to hear. Plus, knowing her pregnant friend, she's never gonna let this go so might as well face the music.

"I might have."

Quinn squints her eyes at Santana, her whole attention on the girl after finding the pre made puff pastry that's in her hands now. "Go on."

Santana grits through her teeth, thinking of the nicest way to put it and place the words in her mind. "W-Well, I asked her if that night we spent together was just sex for her-" She trails off before getting cut off by Quinn who's very much eager to know what's next.

"And what did she say?"

"She said that it wasn't. That it's so much more than that for her and she has feelings for me."

Quinn holds up a hand to digest that statement for a moment. "If she said that then what's the problem?"

Santana immediately avoids eye contact with Quinn and busies herself with a box of pre-made cookies, desperate for their conversation not to veer there.

The blonde raises an eyebrow at Santana while tapping the puff pastry on her palm. "What exactly did you say?" Quinn whispers, almost in a motherly tone but definitely sounding like one of those villains in a horror movie. It's Quinn's you-better-confess-now-bitch tone.

Oh, boy.

Santana doesn't really know how she can escape this at all so she just closes one eye and braces herself for the incoming onslaught.

"'M-Maybe'." Santana murmurs with a pained expression.

To say the least, the next few seconds were just that, painful.

"What. The. Fuck. Satan!" Quinn angrily exclaims while bashing Santana on the arm repeatedly with the pre made puff pastry in her hands.

"Ow! What the hell, Q?! That fucking hurts!" Santana sneers as she massages her arm and takes a step back to create space between them or rather, save herself from more pain.

"It hurts? Well, that's clearly not enough for the pain you caused Brittany! 'Maybe'?! What the fuck were you thinking?! Oh my god, Santana. You make me want to give birth in the middle of a grocery store!"

"I don't know, okay?! It just came over me like reflex! Can you calm the fuck down? I won't be able to drag you to my car and into the hospital alone if you go to labor now."

"Mommy, mommy! Look, a pregnant woman!" A small boy exclaims behind them like he's seen something magical. Unfortunately, he caught both women at a bad time.

"No, of course she's not! What do you think, kid? Maybe she's just full with a tummy that's ten times bigger than your head! Why don't we kick it and see if she's really pregnant huh?" Santana snaps back at the little boy who instantly runs away and cries to his mother.

"Why would you do that, S? He's just a little kid!"

"He's fine." Santana rolls her eyes and glances behind her to see the mother comforting the boy then leaving after.

"Fine. But you're still not off the hook with the Brittany thing." Quinn holds both hands up in defense and surrenders the puff pastry in her hands to their grocery cart. "Seriously, you are such a bitch for saying that. No wonder she's been acting like someone died lately. You are so unfair. How dare you say that?"

"I think you're the one being unfair on siding with her on this. You're supposed to be Switzerland, Q."

"I am on nobody's side, okay? If it were the other way around, I would have had the same reaction. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't have said that after she told you she had feelings for you. Maybe you should have just stabbed her in the heart and buried her and her feelings six feet under. That would have been probably better."

Santana breathes deeply and shakes her head as she follows Quinn to the checkout counter. "There's nothing I can do about now, can I? It's over. Just let it be."

"There is. It's called talking."

"But she doesn't want to talk to me. I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to." Santana trails off. "Maybe it's for the best if she and I just steer clear of each other.

"That's bullshit. If she has feelings for you like she said then there's nothing she'd want more but to hear your voice and see your face. Believe me, S."

"Maybe, okay? But I don't know how. I'm not good at this. I've never been in this situation before."

Quinn remarks and stops in her tracks as they put their stuff on the counter for the cashier to ring their items. "Answer this. Do you have feelings for her?"

Santana could only stare at Quinn for a few seconds. She's never really admitted it to anyone but herself. But it is the truth and there's nothing she could do about it.

"Yes, I do. A lot." She answers, plain and simple. Quinn doesn't say anything anymore and just nods at that while they proceed to finish at the cashier in silence.

"Come on now, honey. Let's go back to my place, plan our strategy, and bake something to make you feel better."

* * *

"So, what exactly do you plan on doing?" Quinn voices out as they walk back the remaining few steps to the apartment.

"What do you mean?" Santana asks innocently as she struggles a bit with the grocery bags in her arms.

"Surely you'd want to talk things out soon with Britt, don't you?"

Santana sighs and tries to shake it off. "Soon but not right now. Can you please not pressure me?"

"I'm not pressuring you. I'm just asking. Don't need to be so defensive." Quinn replies with a shrug as they reach their door and opens it with the keys in her hand.

"Look, knowing Brit, she'd still be pretty much an emotional wreck right now. So, she'll need a bit of space. If I talk to her now, we won't be able to fix anything because of all the drama. She'd be uptight. She can be a drama queen every once in a while and I'm just a bitch. We both know that. Besides, I'm not the only one at fault here. She started all this!" Santana exclaims with a bitter tone as they enter the apartment.

"What did you say?"

A familiar soft voice scoffs from the living room and Santana swears that her heart almost combusts with fear at the realization of being heard and the fact that the subject of such an unflattering statement is only a few feet away. Upon turning around to face the voice, she almost jumps when she sees Brittany looking so furious.

"U-Uh-" Santana stutters bigtime. In a bid to save herself some time, she settles the grocery bags on the coffee table then looks behind her to see Quinn looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"I'm a drama queen and it's my fault? And we're getting our friends to side with us now? Really, Santana?" Brittany sneers with eyebrows scrunched in anger as she walks towards Santana.

"Britt, San…" Quinn speaks out in a small voice to try and break off the scene in front of her.

"I-I didn't mean it like tha-"

"Really?! Then what the hell do you mean by that? Because from the way I heard it there's no other way to interpret it."

"Hey, Britt! I found extra tape and cotton for the sides of that ta-" Puck exclaims happily but stops grinning immediately upon seeing the three women in the living room, immersed in a slight tension. "U-Uh… Is everything alr-" He treads lightly but only gets cut off by Brittany and Santana who couldn't care less nor give a fuck about his sudden presence.

Santana breathes deeply because once again she's going to shine bright like a diamond on Brittany if she won't be able to keep her patience in check. "Can you calm down? We can talk about this."

Brittany gives her a look with a raised eyebrow then crosses her arms. "'Talk'?" She huffs with a smirk. "Is that something you learned today? Because you never really knew how to do that."

"Can you fucking stop it, Britt?! Why are you making a big deal out this?"

"Because apparently, the only person you don't want to talk with is me."

"Oh, please. Like you reached out to me or something." Santana sneers while returning the blonde's glare.

"What? You seriously think I should have been the one reaching out to you after what you said?!"

"Don't put this all on me, Britt! Besides, I wasn't ready, okay?! Why is everyone pressuring me to do things I don't fucking want to?"

"Who's pressuring you, Santana? No one's forcing you to do anything!"

"Guys…" Quinn voices out once again but to no avail.

"You're one to talk!" Santana counters while crossing her arms. "Just because you heard me say something as small as calling you a drama queen or putting all the blame on you, you're flipping out on me like this? And interpreting stuff the way you see and hear them? Oh come on, it's like you've gotten it down to an expert level by now."

"Do not make this about me, San. You're the one who started this!"

"Please. You're overreacting! You always are!"

Brittany sighs deeply and shakes her head in disbelief. "More than a decade of friendship and this is what it has come to?"

"You should have just trusted me instead of making assumptions, Britt!"

"Well, you shouldn't have decided to fuck your best friend in the first place then tell her that she's just another notch on your fucking bedpost!" Brittany retorts and receives a gasp on the other end of a clueless Puck.

"I never said that!"

"Oh, please. You may have said it in another way but the meaning is all the same."

"I didn't mean it like th-"

"Can you stop fucking arguing?! My water just fucking broke, you fucking bitches! You can continue this fucking argument in the fucking car but get me to the fucking hospital before I fucking give birth here in my living room!" Quinn cuts Santana off as she angrily exclaims and this time, successfully catches all of their attention.

Puck, Santana, and Brittany stare at each for a moment, trying to digest those words or gather what just happened. Did they just hear that Quinn's water just broke her wa-

"Move!" Quinn shouts and this time everyone scrambles in a hurry to do their respective jobs that they all rehearsed repeatedly.

With the way Brittany and Santana are glaring at each other right now from across the room, the car ride to the hospital is bound to be fucking interesting.

* * *

 **May or may not update this Thursday. If I don't get to, then by default, it would be on Sunday again.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you and I love you all! :)**

* * *

It took them a few minutes to get everything ready.

A few bumps, bruises, and some more yelling but they're finally out the door. For a while back at the apartment, they tried to calm themselves down and everyone declared a ceasefire between the two women while they timed how far away from each other Quinn's contractions were. At only five minutes apart, all hell started to ensue.

Panic was apparent when they assumed the roles they assigned themselves. Namely: Puck, who's in charge of taking care of his wife and making sure the blonde gets safely to the vehicle; Brittany, whose duty is to get a few more stuff and bags from the bedroom and locking the apartment; And Santana, whose job is to drive all of them to the hospital a couple of blocks away.

"Quinn, are you still alive?!" Santana exclaims in a panic upon pulling over by the sidewalk while Puck and Quinn safely and hastily get in the backseat.

"I'm giving birth not fucking dying, Santana!" Quinn shouts, flinching in pain a second after.

"Puck, time the contractions again!" Brittany exclaims as she takes the passenger seat, giving an extra quick glare at Santana.

"Well, you'll never know you might di-" Santana utters nonchalantly before getting cut off by Quinn.

"Go fucking drive!" Quinn angrily declares as Santana immediately pulls out from the sidewalk and into the streets in a hurry, a bit carelessly at that.

"Woah, can you drive a little more carefully?" Brittany snaps in the passenger seat.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're talking to me now?" Santana scoffs back as she recklessly navigates the streets of New York with the grace of a dozen drunk teenagers.

"This is not about you! All I'm saying is don't drive so fast, we all might die!"

"Please. You never complained before about my driving before!"

"I just wasn't saying it to your face!" Brittany replies angrily as Santana turns the car to the left and overtakes a cab.

"Oh, so now we have stuff that we weren't saying to each other's face?! Well, do tell me all that you've been holding back on." Santana does a quick glare at Brittany.

"Don't turn this on me, Santana. Let's just get to the hospital before Quinn pops one here."

"Woah, don't step back now. You're going straight in with all this bravado and now you're turning back?" Santana sarcastically chuckles.

"Four minutes!" Puck declares while helping Quinn breathe properly in the backseat.

"I'm all for this fucking argument between you two but please, get me to the hospital because Puckerman Junior is about to say hello to the world!" Quinn chimes in with her face scrunched up in pain.

Brittany grits her teeth. She wants nothing more than to drop the conversation like a hot potato but even the nicest of people can have enough and their patience run out. This is one of those instances.

"Fine!" Brittany furiously exclaims, taking Santana aback since she's never seen the blonde exactly like this before and in the process, also catching the attention of Puck and Quinn in the backseat.

"Oh, boy. Here we go." Quinn whispers to Puck while trying to keep her breathing in check.

"Five bucks on Santana crying." Puck murmurs back.

"Deal." Quinn tries to say as low as possible while she and her husband do a fist bump.

"You want to hear everything, Santana?!" Brittany quips and turns sideways to position her whole body facing Santana, her full attention on the girl.

"I'm sure it's nothing I haven't heard before, so come on! Give me your worst shot, Brittany!" Santana does a side glare while she honks the hell out of everyone in the street and steps on the gas.

"I've always wanted to tell you this and for the record, you shouldn't have bought a car! Who buys a car in New York?! It's stupid!"

"What?! I can do whatever I want with my money and it's none of your business if I have a lot to spare! Besides, you've gotten your fair share of rides ever since I bought this a few months ago."

"That's not the point! You're always so impulsive with everything then you always run to us after getting yourself in trouble! Like that girl you dated and had us meet a year ago-"

"Name that bitch!" Quinn cuts Brittany off.

"I think it was SoHo?" Puck chimes in questioningly.

"I thought it was Sasha?" Brittany voices back looking confused at the couple.

"Like Sasha Fierce?" Quinn replies with raised eyebrows.

"It's Sarah!" Santana exclaims with a deep breath as the cars in front make way for them and they're finally halfway to their destination.

"Oh yeah, I remember her now! She was the chick Santana dated for two months but they broke up becau-" Puck trails off but only gets cut off by Brittany.

"Because she wanted you to meet her parents!" Brittany states. "You bailed out after having us fall in love with her just because her parents are in town! Then what, you wanted us to act like everything is normal whenever by chance, we run into her?"

"What does this have to do with anything?! That's over and irrelevant! Where are you going with all this bullshit?!"

"All I'm saying is that you're such a bitch!"

"You don't have to flatter me, Brittany. I know, thank you!" The brunette smirks as they turn to another corner, only five blocks away from the hospital now.

Brittany breathes deeply as her eyebrows scrunch in ire. "Y-You have this annoying habit of stealing my phone and going through all of my messages and emails anytime you want to! It's an invasion of my privacy!"

"What? That's what best friends do! Or in our case _, did_. Plus, you were never against it before!"

"It's not cool, Santana! I once did that to you and god forbid, I thought I contracted herpes the moment I opened your messages!"

"Oh, is that so?! Well, I wasn't particularly thrilled to see Jamie's sexts either! ' _I'm removing my red, polka dot double hooked and elastic bra with my black Armani slacks'_? What the fuck is that? That's more detailed than Stephen King's description of Pennywise! No wonder you girls broke up, she must have made your vagina as dry as the fucking Sahara desert!" Santana mockingly chuckles and eyes from the backseat widen.

"You had no right to read those!" Brittany grits through her teeth. "And besides, we're not particularly into sexting anyway! Unlike you who's practically an expert in it after sleeping with all of New York!"

"Well, after sleeping with you, I have now." She utters sharply as she turns to a curve only to meet a quick halt in traffic while a collective gasp from the backseat echoes in the car. "And what, you think you're so goddamn perfect?! You have that habit of biting your fingernails when you're nervous. It's so fucking disgusting!"

"It's out of habit! Like you licking your fingers after eating finger food, now that's disgusting!"

"Everybody does that, Britt! And you didn't complain about it when we had sex, you were even enjoying it! Multiple times, I might add." Santana does a quick glare at a horrified Brittany while Puck just listens with wide eyes, amused as fuck and Quinn has her mouth open, not sure whether or not she should cry out in pain or chuckle out loud at the events transpiring.

Brittany sighs while trying to calm herself down. Her hands are shaking from too much anger and her palms are probably red as hell now from closing her knuckles too tightly. "Why are you doing this, San?"

"Me?" Santana scoffs. "You started this then you're putting it all on me? What is wrong with you?! And wait, why are you all so being biased about this?! Why is everyone blaming me?!"

"When did they sleep together? Did you know about this?" Puck whispers into Quinn's ear.

"The other night. Santana told me just an hour ago. Kind of a bitch move." Quinn mutters then instantly wriggles in pain, making everyone in the car panic a little.

"We're almost there, Q." Brittany exclaims in a panic then turns her attention back to Santana with a face full of disdain. "I told you I have feelings for you. When you asked me if it was all sex for me, I said no because again, I have feelings for you. Then when I asked you back, you said 'maybe'. Fucking 'maybe', Santana! Do you know how much that hurts?! And now you're blaming me for not talking to you? We are both at fault here! What would you have done if the roles were reversed, huh? You have no idea how much pain that one word caused me!" The blonde adds in a rage and Santana could only shrink in the driver's seat.

"Lopez! What the fuck?!" Puck chimes in with a look of disbelief.

Santana blinks a few times and tries to shrug it off. "C-Can you all knock it off?! I'm trying to save my friend's life here!"

"I am not dying!" Quinn quips, shouting in pain again.

"No one's being biased and nobody's taking sides. For the record, no one is blaming you for all of this!" Brittany sneers. "Now tell me, what have you got to say for yourself, San?! Why do you always have to push away the people who care for you?!"

Santana breathes deeply through her nose as they pass the last block before the hospital then takes a quick glance at Brittany. "Because I'm afraid of getting hurt and for the record, you hurt me too! You can't trust me enough to believe that I was telling you the truth about Dani! And as much as you'd want to deny it, I'm just a rebound for you, Britt!"

Brittany gives Santana a defeated look as they pull up at the hospital. "You're not, San. You never were."

The words hit Santana like somebody just stabbed her straight through the heart and all she could do is look back straight into those sad, blue eyes for a second before the reality of everything sets in. Without as much as a single word, Puck and Brittany proceed to help Quinn get to the hospital while Santana parks at the nearest spot she can, all while trying to calm herself down.

Momentarily and after some much needed deep breaths, she finally emerges from her car and enters the hospital, searching for her friends by the hallway cum waiting room only to be greeted by two old women sitting beside each other on the bench at the left side, two young girls sitting together at the right side, then there's Brittany, pacing back and forth in the middle of the hallway. Upon seeing someone approach her, the blonde looks up with a worried glance to see that it's Santana.

"They're inside already. Puck's with her and I think the doctor said it's time." Brittany utters while biting her thumb fingernail.

"Okay." Santana replies calmly with a nod then goes to take a seat beside the two teenagers.

"Did you mean that?" Brittany asks with a hopeful look as she stops pacing back and forth in front of Santana who just looks up with a tired face.

"What?"

"Did you mean what you said in the car that I hurt you?"

Santana sighs deeply then looks down for a second to weigh the possibilities of actually saying the truth and lying once again to Brittany's face just so she could save herself some more pain. Either that or hurt the blonde with something much worse than 'maybe'. She figures she's had enough.

"Yes, Britt. I do."

Brittany takes a deep breath and looks around for a second to see everyone in the waiting room, the two old women and these teenagers beside Santana, listening to their conversation and even upon locking eyes with them, they look determined on eavesdropping the whole way so instead of doing anything else, she just shrugs it off.

"How, San? I need to understand how I hurt you."

Santana chuckles sarcastically and avoids eye contact. "Why does it even matter, Britt? We've had this talk a bunch of times already and we always just end up fighting while achieving nothing. I'm tired of this already."

"Because I want to fix this. Don't you?"

"There's nothing to fix anymore!" Santana shouts and stands up to size up next to the tall blonde. "Do you actually think that after everything that happened we could go back to how we were before?!"

"I-I don't know." Brittany utters in a defeated tone without looking at Santana.

"Then what are we still talking about?! I'm done with talking about how to fix this, Britt. Let's just be there for our friends then I'll make sure that you'll never see me again. End of story." Santana grits through her teeth.

"I'm sorry for everything I did. If I didn't assure you enough that you weren't just a rebound. If I didn't trust you enough. If I didn't get to tell you how much you really mean to me. I should have believed in you. I should have trusted you more. I was hurt and just let my emotions take over me. I'm sorry, San. I really am. I'll happily take the blame for all of this if it means not losing you." Brittany paused as she takes a breath. "But please don't act as if we didn't go through hell and back together for more than a decade. Don't I mean anything to you?" Her voice breaks as she becomes teary-eyed.

For the first time in a very long while, Santana feels like a complete asshole. She's seen Brittany cry multiple times before and she never thought in her wildest dreams that one day, she will be the reason for those tears. It's as if life just threw her a truckload full of lemons and handed her the reality that someone actually does have feelings for her. Genuine feelings. And here she is, fucking it up like usual. And the downside this time, it's the person she cares about the most in her fucking life.

"Y-You do, Britt. You mean a lot to me."

"Then why do you have to keep on pushing me away?!"

"I-I don-"

"I'm here, right in front you. I'm all yours, Santana." Brittany declares as she takes both of Santana's hand and hold them against her. "Let's forget about all this mess. There's no you and me now, it's just us. I wanna be with you and just you, let's forget everything that happened and everyone else. I don't want to be with anyone else, San. I just want you. What do you say?" The blonde whispers and gives a small smile.

Santana wants nothing more but to say yes. Nothing more but to run away and make Latina blue-eyed babies with Brittany. Nothing more but to buy a McMansion up the hills of wherever and have a family with Brittany. All these thoughts are something she's never had before until she realized she has feelings for Brittany. Feelings and thoughts that are foreign to her, almost alien. But the bottom line is, there's one thing that she's never admitted to herself and to anyone, it's that she's scared. She's terrified that she'll fuck this up like all those relationships she's had before and this one with Brittany is just way too much to handle if she loses her.

"I-I want to, Britt. I want to be with you but-" Santana trails off with a heavy heart and tears pooling in her eyes but gets cut off by Brittany.

"'But'" The blonde echoes the words and looks absolutely heartbroken. "Why does there always have to be a 'but', San? Why can't you just tell me that you want to be with me too? That you have feelings for me as well? Why can't you just tell me that you want me and just me, no reservations?"

Santana lets out a deep breath. So many questions that she herself doesn't know the answer to. Questions that breaks her heart into a million pieces. It only makes her want to punch herself in the face and get her act straight.

"I-I'm scared, Britt. I'm really terrified." She finally murmurs.

Brittany lifts Santana's head to meet her gaze. "It's okay to be afraid sometimes. You have every right to be but I'm here, okay? We can do this together."

"What if it doesn't work out? What if one day you'll wake up beside me and realize that you can't bear to be with me anymore? O-Or- Or what if someone better comes along and-"

"No one will because you're already here. Forget all your doubts and fears, San. You don't have to be scared, okay? We'll work on it, we'll work on everything together." Brittany smiles and trains her eyes on Santana, waiting for that one answer she's been hopeful for.

"I-I can't. I'm not ready." Santana states in almost a whisper.

Fuck.

Like reflex, Brittany lets go of Santana's hand as she takes a step back, mustering all the air she can get while taking a deep breath and holding back the tears in her eyes, ultimately failing as droplets fall to her cheeks. This is so much worse than anything she could have imagine. This is so much worse that 'maybe'. 'I can't is basically never and it just puts the nail in the coffin of their falling out.

"I'm sorry. B-Britt-" Santana reaches out for the blonde only for her hand to be whisked away.

"Don't." Brittany utters with a bitter tone then takes a seat beside the two old women who could only look back at her and Santana with a sympathetic gaze.

"B-Britt, p-please-"

"I said, don't, San. Just stop it. You've broke my heart one too many times already."

Santana bites her lip so hard, to the point that it's bleeding. But she doesn't care because as far as she could understand, the physical feeling of pain can't match whatever hurt and pain she has bestowed on her friend. She sighs for the hundredth time as she takes a seat adjacent to Brittany, doing nothing but to stare back at the girl who's crying her heart out while covering face with her hands. Doing nothing but just stare back at the girl she just broke. And the only sound everyone can hear in the hallway is that of Brittany's crying which breaks her heart into a hundred pieces as they both settle into their own silence and space far away from each other.

Physically and emotionally.

* * *

These incompetent fools.

That's what Dani calls everyone in this godforsaken radio station who thinks that goddamn Brittany Pierce is better than her. Brittany Pierce, the daughter of the much overrated radio host that's been dead for at least ten years, got the fucking syndication.

Pfft.

That bitch only won that because she had connections, connections that are better than Dani. And for sure, Burt Hummel had the hots for her. Fuck that, Brittany did that casting couch thing if she didn't know any better. Oh wait, she's gay, right? So, she probably went for Carole. Totally. But of course, none of that is relevant now after Dani lost that darn syndication. The big bucks. The rightful spot to be declared one of the bests. The epitome of greatness. It's all gone now. Don't get her started on that hot piece of ass named Jamie. They can all fuck themselves.

What she doesn't understand though is how someone as plain and lame as Brittany won that syndication?! Anyone could give a love advice. Anyone could declare themselves as relationship experts. And fuck it, anyone can do what Brittany does. You know what's hard? Giving financial advice, that's what's hard. Not anybody could do what Dani does. And you know what's harder? Giving financial advice to idiots over the radio and actually pretending to care. It's fucking torture! She didn't fucking study Finance and Accounting in some expensive university to be rendered second best. Oh no, she didn't.

And now, like the loser that she is, she's in the radio booth about to close down her show at 5pm in the afternoon. Were it not for this blithering incompetent fool named Will Schuester fucking up her broadcast by not signing off this other blithering idiot over the phone asking for some money advice, she'd be at the bar now an hour before dinnertime drinking to her heart's content.

"But I don't understand, Dani. You mean to say that-"

"Yes!" Dani shouts exasperatedly and tries to rein in her inner bitch. "For the nth time, you need to file an affidavit to prove the deductions over your missing receipts. Lack or inadequate documentation is one of the main reasons why the IRS disallows deductions for individual tax return fliers. Easy as 1, 2, 3." She sighs with an annoyed look and finally Will catches on as she goes on to say goodbye and thank her listeners like the usual.

"And... We're out!" Will declares from the other side of the booth and Dani could only roll her eyes.

"You only thought of that till now?! I was suffering back there!" She utters with a seething tone while Will pretends not to hear her.

Almost like clockwork, Rory enters the room in a hurry and directly goes for the radio booth after seeing that they're off the air, disregarding Will's protests in the process. Dani looks up from her phone and upon realizing that Rory must have some good news, she looks back at Will.

"It's okay, Will. You can go now." She utters sweetly, almost poisonous. After some hesitation, Will obliges with a disapproving look as he leaves the room.

When Will is finally out the door, Rory places a few documents on Dani's table. "I have answers to everything you asked for."

Dani smirks and massages Rory's arm in a flirty gesture. "My, aren't you the best, Rory?"

"W-Well, I-I... Uhmm..." The intern stutters but gets cut off immediately.

"What have you got for me?"

Rory clears his throat and proudly presents a few of the documents in his hand. "Remember when you asked about Brittany and her fiancée?"

"Of course, I did." Dani rolls her eyes impatiently. "Can you get to the important part already?"

"R-Right. Well, after hitting a couple of roadblocks and dead ends, I finally stumbled upon a discovery. Turns out she's not really Jamie."

Dani gives Rory a questioning look. "What the fuck do you mean?"

Rory grins, proud of his achievement. "The woman you asked me to research on, this Santana Lopez." He says while pointing to a picture in the document. "She's 'Jamie'." He adds as he air quotes his own words.

Dani tries to process the information and make sense of what this bumbling Irish is going on about. If the woman she's been flirting with for the past month is Jamie and then this Santana Lopez that Rory is pointing out... Wait. She tries to remember that one thing Jamie became all panicky about back at Long Island. Something about that girl she was talking to. What was it again? Hmm... She tries to nitpick her own brain at the memory of it. What did that bitch say again?

 _"Why is everyone calling you Jamie, Santana?"_

Boom. Jackpot.

Dani smirks to herself upon the realization and putting the pieces together for herself. "So..."

"Yep." Rory grins widely. "Jamie Ryan has been in South Africa for the past month after they broke up. The person you've all been interacting with is none other than Brittany's best friend, Santana Lopez, who's been pretending to be 'Jamie' after all this time."

Dani leans back as her smirks grows even wider. So, that's why 'Jamie' avoided her that night they ran into each other. That's why Brittany is so overprotective of the girl. That's why this 'Jamie' is so much more interesting than the real one. It's all been an act to dupe everyone into believing that they're special than Dani. But is the engagement part of the act? This is going to be interesting, to say the least. Add the fact that those two bitches obviously have feelings for each other.

It's going to be fantastic.

Dani stands up without saying anything and gathers her stuff while a confused Rory only looks on. "W-Wait. Dani, where are you going?"

"Home." She states simply from the doorway then turns halfway to face the intern. "Thank you for all your help, Rory. You've been a good boy."

"B-But what are you going to do about all this info?"

"I'm taking it, of course. I just need some much needed beauty rest before I go to Burt's tomorrow morning to unveil this wretched scheme. And of course," She utters before chuckling devilishly. "Claim my rightful syndication."

* * *

After what must have been an hour of waiting outside the delivery room and just bathing themselves in the complete silence between them, Puck finally comes out of the delivery room wearing scrubs. Upon seeing him, both women stand up immediately to face him.

"How is she? Is she okay?" Santana asks worriedly with her face scrunched up.

"Is the baby okay?" Brittany chimes in, the tears on her face no longer visible.

Puck looks at the two women back and forth for a second before giving out one of the most genuine smiles they've seen. "Yeah. They're both okay. Quinn's about to be transferred to her room and the baby's with her." He pauses and sighs. "I have a boy now, guys. A boy. Can you believe it?" He adds with a few tears of joy.

Both women grin widely, almost in tears again as they embrace Puck for a quick moment. "Little Puckerman. Sounds like he's going to be such a pain in the ass." Santana jokes with a forced grin as they pull apart.

"And that is why you are not the godmother." Puck quips back and they all laugh, disregarding the tension between the two women. "Anyway, Quinn's knocked out and you two should go home first since she's going to be asleep for a while. She kind of had it rough in there. Quinn's parents, my mom, and Beth will be here in a while anyway. So, we'll be okay."

"B-But-" Brittany tries to argue but gets cut off by Puck immediately.

"No buts and ands, Britt. We've all have a rough day. Quinn wants the both of you to go home anyway since she wants to see both of your asses tomorrow. Well. Santana, that is. Since you have that celebratory live show tomorrow, right Britt?"

Brittany's eyes widen, almost forgetting that part. "Y-Yeah. I do."

"Cool." Puck declares with a grin. "I have to go back there now. And I don't want to hear anymore arguments, okay? The Queen had direct orders, so we follow. Go home, you kids! Thank you, we owe you big!" He shouts happily as he walks away, leaving both women to themselves again.

It takes them a few seconds to move, almost watching Puck's every move as he walks away from them before they react. With Santana taking the initiative to speak, albeit nervously.

"Y-You have a live show tomorrow?"

Brittany doesn't reply or say anything, declaring herself done with talking to the brunette from awhile ago. She just nods as she gathers her things from the chair and proceed to walk away herself.

"W-Wait!" Santana shouts behind her and makes the blonde stop in her tracks. Brittany slowly turns around, curious to know what the brunette has to say. If she's being honest, just one word or one anything from Santana asking her to stay would suffice for her to give up everything and be with the girl.

Anything.

"What is it, San?" She says, in almost a hoarse voice.

"I-I..." Santana trails off but the words she wants most to let go doesn't leave her. She's an idiot, that's what she thinks and what everybody thinks. The struggle to say three words and eight letters is much too big of an emotional roller coaster for her for one day.

Without having anything to go by or just anything to make her want to stay, Brittany does something she thought she should have done a few days back when Santana broke her heart. Something she should have had the heart to do when Santana basically rejected her. Something to save herself from more pain.

Walking away.

"Take care, Santana." Brittany states with a heavy heart before walking away completely from Santana with tears in her eyes.

Within half an hour or so of walking just to breathe in the not so fresh air of New York and do some thinking, Brittany finally arrives home from the hospital feeling like she carried two 16 wheeler trucks all the way back with how heavy she's been feeling. She can't even fathom how she managed to get all the way back without falling apart like how she feels on the inside. It's baffling, to say the least, that Santana just can't seem to give it all to her. Even after telling her all that stuff, all her feelings about them wanting to be together, it's as if everything fell on deaf ears and just a numb and stupid heart.

After contemplating life and death on whether or not to get her mails before going up, she ultimately decides to just get those damn letters for lack of anything better to do. Upon getting through the door, the first piece of mail she opens is the one containing photographs from when the syndication was announced. Much to her disappointment, she's faced with pictures of her and Santana being sweet and lovey during the first few. Some from the swimming competition. And of course, the awkward photographs from when they announced the syndication. Judging from everyone's grins, it's only the both of them who were aware of the tension. Much like the truth.

The truth.

She almost forgot about it. The fact that all this success is based on the lie that Santana is 'Jamie'. That they're together. That they're engaged.

She sighs deeply and takes a seat on her couch. After having lost Santana, there's really no more reason to continue on with the lie. There's no 'Jamie' anymore. And this ring she's been wearing for these past few days has no more significance. She can't have the beginning of her success based on a lie. She knows what she has to do and it's about time that she does.

It takes her a few minutes to think about whether to go through it or not. She seamlessly takes the ring off her finger and stares at it for a moment before dialing the number etched in her memory. It picks up after a few rings.

"Hello?" Santana's raspy voice, sounding almost as hoarse and tired as her voices out on the other line.

"Hey, San." Brittany utters nonchalantly, trying hard to get it together and not to show too much emotion.

"Hey."

"I-I..." Brittany takes a deep breath and looks at the ring in her hand once again. "I thought about it and I've decided to tell everyone the truth tomorrow during the live broadcast."

Brittany doesn't hear anything for a moment from Santana, the only thing that she can hear is the slow breathing from the brunette. "Are you sure, Britt?"

Brittany bites her lip. "I am. Everyone deserves to know the truth. I can't have my success based on a lie."

"B-But it's going to ruin you."

"It will eventually." Brittany counters. "I should have told everyone a long time ago and now I will. I want it to come from me."

She hears Santana sigh from the other line before speaking. "If that's what you want."

Brittany smiles sadly to herself and doesn't say anymore as she ends the call. She glances at the picture of Santana and her looking like every bit of a couple at the Hummels' courtyard. She's got nothing to lose tomorrow morning now, does she?

It's now or never.

* * *

"Honey? Where did you put my glasses again?" Burt's voice echoes through their penthouse while trying to find those goddamn glasses that he just put on the coffee table a few minutes ago.

Carole comes into the living room while shaking her head and giving her husband a look of disbelief. "It's on your head, silly."

Burt looks at her questioningly then feels for the top of his head. True enough, he's wearing it. "Oh, darn it. This old age thing is slowly coming to me."

"You are old, honey." Carole teases and only gets a wink from Burt. "Let's settle down, shall we? Brittany's show is about to go on in a little while."

"Oh, yeah. It's a live broadcast today, right? Sounds exciting!"

"I know, I can't wai-"

 ** _Buzz!_**

Carole and Burt give each other a curious look. As far as they're concerned, they're not expecting any guests. And much to their chagrin, they're not expecting guests this close to Brittany's broadcast. That's just how much of a fan they are.

"Now who could that be?" Carole asks with an annoyed look at Burt.

"I don't know. We're not expecting anyone, right?"

"No, of course. We never schedule things during the broadcast and certainly not during the morning."

"Maybe if we don't answer it, they would think we're not home." Burt utters with a playful grin that Carole disregards with a pout of her own.

"That sounds perfect but they already got through to the security downstairs, so they know we're here." Carole voices out disappointedly. "Come on, let's just get the door together to get it over with." She adds and Burt lazily obliges as they get up from the couch and walk towards the door.

Out of all the guests or people they were expecting to show up, this woman is not one of them.

"Dani? What are you doing here?" Burt asks with a genuine tone of curiosity while taking a quick glance at his wife who's as clueless as him.

"Yes, we weren't quite expecting you." Carole chimes in with a look of surprise.

"Burt, Carole!" Dani trails off with a smirk. "I have some exciting news you need to hear. Can I come in?" She adds with her devilish grin growing wider.

* * *

 **Just 1 more chapter left! Anything you want to say or want me to add next chapter? I draw the line at beheading Dani ;)**

 **May update again this Sunday, we'll see. If not, then I'll catch you next Sunday :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you to each and everyone who supported this fic. It's been a wild ride and I owe it all to you guys. I love you all :)**

 **Special thanks goes to ChillYourBeans for everything!**

 ***Please bear with me on this chapter as it will interchange between POVs and all.**

* * *

Burt and Carole look at each other questioningly, trying to come up with a decent explanation of the sudden, unwanted presence in their home as they're all sitting in the living room. Feeling the tension, the unexpected and uninvited guest sitting across from them clears her throat. To say the least, they've been bouncing off topics for a while now to avoid awkwardness and they're still not close to figuring out what the hell this woman's doing here.

"A lovely morning, isn't it?" Dani utters with a fake grin plastered on her face.

"Well, yes." Carole trails off then clears her throat as well. "So, what can we do for you, Dani?"

"Ah…" Dani smiles sweetly and takes out several documents from her bag. "Well, you see. It has recently come to my attention that there's been a slight logistical error with regard to someone's identity."

"Error? Identity?" Burt repeats with a quizzical expression and a slight glance at his wife.

Dani fake laughs and places the documents in her hand on the coffee table in front of her. "To put it simply, someone isn't who we think it is." She adds with a devilish grin.

* * *

Jamie.

Who knew that one person who's not even here in this goddamn continent would be the start and end of a whirlwind journey?

Santana sighs at the thought of that and absent-mindedly surveys the aisle of biscuits and crackers in the convenience store near the hospital while thinking about Brittany.

It was probably the dumbest thing she's ever done in her life and she can't fathom why she had to be so scared of someone who's literally offering all of them just for a chance to be with her. It's fucking stupidity at its finest, that's what it was. For the first time in her life, she spent last night crying her heart out and basically had a life and death situation with her cellphone about calling Brittany to beg for forgiveness and another chance. But like a little bitch, decided against it in the end.

So, here she is, groggy as hell and eyes puffy as fuck with almost no sleep at all, buying Quinn's requests before she goes over to the hospital to visit her friend.

 _"And please stay tuned here on Dalton Radio because in just a while, we're going to bring you a live show coming from one of the highest rated radio shows of today, Romantically Speaking with your host, Brittany Pierce! For now, we bring you the top songs of the week starting with…"_ An announcer over the radio exclaims through the speakers.

Santana sighs deeply again upon hearing the announcement. Just half an hour more before Brittany confesses everything to her listeners and for everyone to know the whole truth behind the lie they put on. Instead of wondering what more would be lost today, she just shakes her head and walks to the check-out counter to get out of here as fast as she could.

Momentarily, she arrives in Quinn's room to see her friend alone and awake while talking to someone on the phone.

"I see you're still alive." Santana utters with a smirk while entering the room as she makes her presence known.

Quinn looks at her and playfully rolls her eyes at her friend. "Yeah, Santana's here. I'll just call you back later. Have a great show, honey." She adds before putting the phone down and turning all her attention on Santana.

"Brittany?" The brunette asks in a defeated tone while giving Quinn a few of the food she purchased a while ago then busies herself by replacing the flowers in a nearby vase with the ones she bought.

"Ooh, jelly pudding! This is a life saver because the food here sucks." Quinn remarks happily while opening the container. "But yeah, it was Brittany. She just called to ask how I was without telling me what went on with you two after we arrived at the hospital. You know she's coming in live in a while, right?"

"Yeah, I did."

"And you know what she's going to do as well?" Quinn trails off and sneaks a look at her friend who looks very much downtrodden.

"I do." Santana says then clears her throat. "So, where's Puckerman? Or just anyone. How's your vagina?"

"Puck is dropping off Beth with my parents at the apartment since you made it known that you're visiting me. He'll be back in a while." Quinn pauses and takes a spoonful of food to her mouth. "My vagina is still functioning, by the way."

Santana only nods at that and seeing that Quinn's happily eating the food she bought her like it's the first time in a long while she's been fed, she sits on a nearby bench and fetches her phone from her pocket then just does something to amuse her at the moment. Well, that was until Quinn decides to turn on the radio by the table beside her bed.

 _"…Be sure to tune in to Romantically Speaking with Brittany Pierce, live at the Grand Hotel and starting in just five minutes…"_

"You're not going to stop her?" Quinn utters with a curious look at Santana.

The brunette sighs and returns her friend's gaze. "Why should I? That's her life."

"Yeah, I know. But don't you want to go there and just, I don't know, do something?"

"Like what, Q? Tell her in the middle of her speech to stop whatever it is she's doing? Drop on my knees and beg for forgiveness?"

"No, S." Quinn sighs. "Maybe tell her how you really feel about her and not just go around in circles trying to guess what the fuck is going on with the both of you. Maybe own up with both of your mistakes and just make up."

"It's too late for that. As much as I'd want to, it's too late for that and it's all my fault." Santana shakes her head.

"Hey, S. Can you come here?"

Santana immediately stands up, kind of alert and worried that Quinn may be in pain or that-

It was so fast. So sudden. But the only thing that registered in Santana's brain for the past two seconds was excruciating pain on her right cheek that sends her stumbling a little, almost making her lose a step while clutching to what's left of her tomato red face.

"Ow! W-What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Santana huffs with wide eyes while making sure that her jaw isn't broken. "That fucking hurts! Why the fuck would you slap me?!"

Quinn shrugs nonchalantly while making her left knuckles crack. "I see that I still got it. And for the record, I'm in an hospital bed recovering from having a baby come through my vagina and that slap was with my left hand too. What's up?" She adds proudly with a grin while Santana looks at her as if she's devil incarnate.

"That still doesn't explain why you have to fucking slap me! I swear to god, if you don't give me a good reason, I will have you back in no time in that hospital bed as soon as you're discharged from here."

"Oh, will you calm your big boobs?" Quinn rolls her eyes and digs in on her second jelly pudding. "I just did that to hopefully knock some sense into you."

"What sense? You're the one not making any sense here!"

Quinn breathes deeply then swallows the food in her mouth. "Are you really that dense to want me to spell it out for you?"

"Let's get minimal with the insults and just get to the bottom of this conversation, Q."

"Okay." Quinn states and puts down the pudding on her lap. "Get your ass over there at the hotel and tell Brittany you're in love with her. That the night you spent together was basically the best night of your life. And that you'd do anything just for another chance and everything you can to be with her."

Oh.

Santana gulps loudly as she massages the right side of her face. Give it to Quinn to give her some much needed tough love and push. It's one thing to think of all that but another to hear it from somebody else's mouth. And the fuckery of it is just a league of their own.

"You know what you are, San?" Quinn leans and utters while putting a spoonful of jelly pudding in her mouth. "You're a fucking coward, that's what you are. You're also a martyr, blaming yourself and thinking that everything that's happened is because of you. That everything will fall apart after this when you accept the fact that someone loves you and wants to be with you."

"I-I.. Q-Quinn…" Santana tries to speak but is only cut off again by her friend with the use of a spoon in front of her face.

"Get over yourself! This ain't a movie! Stop stalling and thinking that something bad will happen because the way I see it, you're the only one preventing yourself from a happy ending. Stop moping around, stop worrying about anything else. Brittany is all in for you and I know you are too. I know you're probably the biggest slut around but get over those issues because there's really nothing to worry about at all. She won't leave you. She won't hurt you like you think she will. She won't do all those things you're afraid to happen. Brittany's your best friend. Why not take it one step further and make her something that you've been dying to call her with?"

* * *

Brittany takes another deep breath again. Probably the fifth time since she found a vacant seat just behind the stage curtain, hidden from everyone else. It's a nice fit actually because all she wants right now is to be left alone, just a little more before her live broadcast starts.

It's not like she's doing anything important or contemplating life and death. She's just thinking about Santana and all the lies and moments that led to this moment. But then again, that's probably contemplating life and death anyway. For once or twice since this morning, she's thought about whether or not she should really go through with her plan on telling everyone the truth. But ultimately, she knows in her heart that she needs to do it. She has to. She wants to. Because maybe, it would set her free somehow away from the guilt and the burden of having to lie directly to everyone's face while she basks in the glow of glory. All for the name of ambition.

She takes out her phone and unlocks it to see her favorite picture of her and Santana which she placed as her wallpaper. It's a photo of them looking at each other sweetly like a couple with wide grins and all with their heads perched by their elbows while they're having dinner with Quinn and Puck one night. It's actually Santana who saved it as her wallpaper on her phone but she never really had the time to change it. Or more like, she never wanted to. It brings a little smile to the blonde's face. A bittersweet smile. Who knew that she'd get to taste those lips? Stroke that flawless face. Look into those beautiful brown eyes as close as she can and just get herself immersed in them. Oh well, it's all in the past now.

"Brittany, are you okay in there?" Will whispers from behind the curtain. Brittany jumps a little as she hides her phone.

"Yeah. I'm okay. Just reviewing notes." She murmurs back, standing up and fixing her yellow free flowing dress.

"Alright. We'll be starting the show in five. Are you ready?"

Brittany sighs. "Yes, Will. I'm ready." She utters as she takes one last deep breath before getting out of her hiding place.

* * *

Santana puts her hands up while trying to digest everything she's heard from Quinn. It is the freaking truth, no doubt. Everything Quinn said is literally everything that she'd been telling herself for the past few days but can't bring herself to do. It's funny that she'd need someone else to give it straight to her just to make her realize everything wrong she's been doing so far. And to hear them is just plain painful. Even painful than the slap this bitch just gave to her.

"W-Wait. I can't do-" Santana swallows the big lump in her throat then looks back at Quinn. "Y-You really think so?"

"I do. I think you needed a little banging in the head and then some to get it all over, you know. Don't get me wrong, San. I know that you know all of that, I just wanted you to hear them so you know what big of a mistake you were making. And basically, how stupid and stubborn you're being. It's freaking Brittany, for crying out loud!" The blonde exclaims then takes another spoon of grape jelly pudding to her mouth.

Santana looks down at the floor for a moment to think about the decisions she's made in the past week. The big mistakes she's made and just plain stubbornness and stupidity on her part.

Oh, shit.

"Y-You think I should go there to see her?" Santana utters with an unsure face.

Quinn thinks about it for a second and nods with her bottom lip sticking out and raised eyebrows.

"And just, tell her I love her?"

Quinn nods again as she stuffs her mouth with another spoonful of jelly pudding.

"But isn't that a little corny and cliché if I just proclaim my love for her in front of those many people? I mean, why?"

"I think it should be embedded in your brain that starting from now on, you are hereby proclaimed as a cheesy person. Love is cheesy, dear. Corny and just full of goddamn clichés, that's what love is."

 _"And now, for the much awaited live broadcast, coming from the Grand Hotel in New York City and one of the highest rated talk shows in the country, here is Romantically Speaking with Brittany Pierce!"_

The announcement catches Quinn and Santana's attention, making them stare at each other.

"Isn't that your cue?" Quinn quips with a smirk.

"I can't go just yet, Puck's not here. No one wil-"

"Oh, shush!" Quinn waves a hand in disregard and motions for Santana to hand her the grocery bag she brought in for her earlier. "Puck will be here in a while and besides, my nurse is McSteamy kind of hot so I'll be fine if I need some help." She adds with a wink and Santana could only look back at her.

"But-"

"Do you need another slap, Satan?"

Santana's eyes widen as she holds up both hands then grabs her stuff from the couch by the corner. "I'm just fucking with you. I'll go run now. Thanks, Q." She adds before giving Quinn a quick kiss on the top of her head then walks towards the door to exit the room in a haste.

"I want some more of this jelly pudding when you get back!" She hears Quinn's voice before completely shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Brittany musters up the biggest smile she can as soon as the curtains part in front of her and the crowd erupts into a thunderous applause. She slowly walks towards the table and chair designated for her on stage, stopping just beside it as she takes it all in before motioning for the cheering and grinning audience who are all on their feet to settle down as she takes her own place as well.

After Brittany has put her headphones in check and the mic closer to her, she grins widely and addresses the audience. "Hello guys, how is everyone doing so far? I hope everyone's doing great." She exclaims and everyone cheers once again.

 _Okay, you can do this,_ Brittany thinks to herself.

Brittany takes a deep breath while trying hard to hold her grin up for everyone to see.

 _It's now or never,_ she tells herself.

When the audience finally calms down, she gives out a tight-lipped smile. Brittany sighs deeply, taking a quick glance at Will by the corner who's giving her a worried look, suddenly having the feeling of what's to come next.

"Thank you for coming to my live broadcast. And before we start the show, I have an announcement to make. A confession... _"_

* * *

Santana honks the horn of her sedan for the fifth time in the last two minutes. Add the fact that she's barely travelled three feet from where she fucking parked by the sidewalk and it's safe to say she's past the point of niceties on the road.

"Come on, you fucking assholes! It's just a fucking one-way street! What is wrong with all of you?!" She shouts angrily at the taxi and sedan in front of her but to no avail.

Why is the heavens conspiring against her like this?! It's just six fucking blocks to the Grand Hotel and it's as if they don't want her to get there. Maybe Brittany was right about the car. It really is fucking stupid to get a car in New York with the traffic and all. And now here she is, stuck and shit, so close yet so far.

 _"Before we start the show, I have an announcement to make. A confe…"_

The moment Santana hears Brittany's voice resonating around her car through the speakers, she makes an executive decision upon herself to back up her car from the few feet where it came from and park it again, disregarding the horns of the car behind her that she almost struck.

"Fuck this!" She huffs while getting out of the car as fast as she could then locks it, not forgetting the parking meter because that could be a bitch of a problem when she comes back for it.

Within seconds, she starts off running towards the Grand Hotel, visibly six blocks away, and hoping that her boots won't be ruined by the time she gets there.

Fuck everything. She needs to get there.

* * *

"What do you mean by that? And who is this we're talking about?" Carole asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Jamie." Dani utters, opening two separate documents. One, with Santana's picture and the works in them. And the other, with the real Jamie's photo and whatnot in it.

Carole and Burt look back at her skeptically for a second before deciding to take a better look at the documents in front of them, leaning forward in the process. It takes them a moment to digest everything but upon closer inspection of all the documents laid down in front of them, one thing is ultimately clear for the couple. That the Jamie they have met and grown fond with is not the real Jamie whose face is plastered on the other document.

"The real Jamie," Dani smirks while the couple are still busy on checking out the papers. "…has been in South Africa since a month or two ago. Not only that, but she also broke up with Brittany before she went away. So, the 'Jamie' you know and love is none other than Santana Lopez, Brittany's best friend who pretended to be her just to get the syndication. Just to fool the both of you and the board. In other words, Brittany is nothing more than a liar and a fraud."

 _"…Before we start the show, I have an announcement to make. A confession. Something that I feel that everyone should know…"_ Brittany's voice sounds through the speakers, catching their attention.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Dani declares with her trademark devilish grin.

The couple gives her a look of indifference before Burt grabs the remote in front of him and turns up the volume as he shares a quick, worried look with his wife.

* * *

She hasn't even gone through the second block or even crossed the street to the other side but she's already done. During the past minute, she had already elbowed a man on the street, knocked a few college kids who were blocking her way, tripped and fell after hurdling over a dog, and probably ruined her boots when she heard a snap a while ago. Then again, it could have been her ankle but she's a warrior so fuck that even if she's already finding it hard to breathe because come on, nobody got time for cardio and shit. The only cardio she knows is sex. But now's not the time to think about that.

"Get out of the fucking way!" Santana exclaims as she passes by a few college students again who parts like the red sea just for her. She probably looks like a madwoman running around New York and shit.

Well, that's 2 blocks down and 4 more to go. And fuck, she's already tired as hell. Luckily, she looks to her left and sees an empty taxi a feet away from her. Knowing that she can't really go the extra 4 blocks with her probably broken shoe or ankle - she's not entirely sure which - and her body that's failing her right now, she hurriedly reaches for the car handle only to be stopped at the same time by a blonde woman who must be in her early 30s, looking back at her with an evil eye.

"It's mine." The woman huffs and motions for Santana to let go.

Santana only raises an eyebrow hopefully to scare off the bitch but still, the woman doesn't bulge. So, in a fit of desperation, she does something she's sure she'll get a decent speech from Quinn or Brittany.

"Oh, look. It's Tom Cruise!" Santana points to something nonexistent in the distance which effectively makes the other woman look. With such a distraction, the brunette takes it upon herself to enter the taxi in a hurry then locking it immediately as she spews out the address, much to the chagrin of the other woman who's looking at her with wide eyes while the taxi takes off.

 _"I'm a fraud. The whole time I had been lying to all of you about Jamie and I. The Jamie you all know and love is no more than a lie. We broke up a few months ago and the Jamie you have seen around with me is no more than my best friend, whom I have hurt so much..."_ Brittany's sad voice echoes in the taxi while the cab driver gasps loudly upon hearing the revelation, complete with holding a hand to his mouth like he had just heard some divine words.

"Oh my god, it can't be!" The man, thin, hairy, who's almost bald, and with a heavy Indian accent of some kind, utters to absolutely no one.

Santana who can't help but grit her teeth at the announcement dugs through her bag and fetches her phone. "Shit!"

"Can you believe it, miss? It was all a lie!"

"Oh, believe me, I know!" Santana scoffs while trying to dial Brittany's phone but only gets the girl's voice mail.

 _"It started right at this hotel during a live broadcast too, actually. She was just bringing me food to comfort me after my break up with the real Jamie when the curtain opened and everyone had mistaken she was 'Jamie'. We were supposed to go confess at the end of the day but for a few reasons we decided not to. Not yet. And to be honest, it's all because of ambition..."_

The taxi driver gasps again as he overtakes a car but is only met with traffic, just 2 blocks away from their destination now. "Oh, shit! That's fucking unbelievable!"

Santana gives him a dirty look through the rear view mirror while still trying to reach Brittany or even Will. "What?!"

"You just heard her! It was her best friend!"

 _"I don't have any excuses whatsoever. I completely take the blame and it was all my fault. I apologize to everyone who felt deceived and hurt by such a lie. To my friends, I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. To the board and the Hummels, I'm sorry for deceiving you into such an act of selfishness. I completely understand if you want to withdraw the syndication contract and I take complete responsibilities for my actions and its consequences. To my best friend, I'm sorry for everything..."_

"Well, aren't you quite the fan?" She adds sarcastically still trying desperately on her phone.

"Oh, I listen to Miss Brittany everyday. I'm a very big fan!"

"I can see that. Well, what are you gonna do now that she's told everyone the truth?"

"Nothing." Taxi man utters with a smile. "Miss Brittany is a good person. I met her personally during an autograph signing. It's obvious that she's in love with her best friend and she's doing this announcement as an apology to that lucky woman and to everyone else she's hurt. She's sorry and is aware of the hurt she caused. So, if anything, I should admire her for having the guts to tell everyone the truth." The man adds.

Santana is taken aback by such a reaction. All she's been thinking about is how much of a negative impact it would have in Brittany's career but never in her wildest dreams would she have thought about the bright side of things.

 _"_ _Like what my father said, your happiness is up to you. It's funny because I call myself a relationship expert but I didn't know until recently that true love and happiness was just right in front of me all along, after all this time."_ _Brittany sighs. "_ _I gave up on that person even though I shouldn't have because I know she feels the same way. I got tired of trying and out of all the people who should know a thing or two about love, I messed up. I shouldn't have given up. I should have tried harder and stuck by her instead of turning my back on her when she needed me the most. It's probably the biggest mistake I've made in my life and I could never take it back."_ _Brittany pauses and a few seconds of heartbreaking silence pass before she speaks again._ _"Romantically Speaking will be right back after the break."_ _Brittany utters with a sad tone as a second or two of silence ensues before a commercial takes place._

The words hit home for Santana and the taxi driver is full on crying right now as he crosses the last block prior to the Grand Hotel.

"See? I told you she's in love with her! Oh god, what courage of this woman!" He exclaims as he pulls over the Grand Hotel. "I should ask her to marry me and-"

Santana cuts him off and hands the man the fare for the ride. "Thanks. And don't you dare ask her to marry you!" The brunette scoffs as she runs off towards the hotel, this time effectively coming through the number she'd been hoping for.

* * *

Silence.

Everything around her and everyone who's at this very room has their eyes on her. Brittany couldn't decode nor discern what exactly do those looks mean but she's pretty sure it's more than just shock that's behind them.

When she's finally had enough of it, she stands up and excuses herself to hide behind the curtains again. Not meaning to walk away, just take a little breather from the stress and mixed feelings she just had of confessing the truth to everyone over live radio.

When she's finally hidden from everyone, she paces back and forth. Just to take her mind of off things while trying to hold back from crying. She just let out everything and probably sabotaged her own future by confessing but she can't deny that she feels so much better now. The burden of carrying around such a lie is no more. The lie that is now in the open no longer exists. She hears a few murmurs from the other side. She guesses that the audience is probably planning to walk out now after everything they heard and by the time the five minute break is up, she'll walk out to an empty room.

No matter how chaotic everything is right now, she knows deep in her heart and mind that this is the right thing to do and she's glad to have done it. Her dad's probably proud of her right now in some way. Not because of the lying, but because of owning up to every mistake she made all for the name of ambition. Yeah, she'll lose her career over this but ultimately, she's free now.

She just wishes that Santana was here. All that's missing is Santana.

* * *

 _"…right back after the break."_

"Well, she had the good sense to own up to it, didn't she? Out of guilt or perhaps to save face?" Dani remarks with a grin.

Burt sighs and gives Carole a look before she turns to Dani once again. "Does Brittany know you're here?"

"No, of course not!" Dani utters while waving a hand in disregard. "She had no idea whatsoever about my plans going here."

"I see." Burt replies as he nods and grits his teeth as he stands up to walk towards the window of their penthouse. "Well, the way I see it, there's only really one course of action." He adds then sneaks a look at his wife, seemingly having a wordless and psychic conversation with one another.

"I agree, Burt. It was really a low move from Brittany." Dani nods knowingly, feigning sympathy. "Deceiving you and Caro-"

"The contract still stands." Burt voices out with confidence and conviction, surprising Dani in the process.

"What?!" Dani exclaims in anger and shock. "But, that woman, she-"

"I whole-heartedly agree with my husband." Carole chimes in with a smirk.

"Hummel Communications Group is proud to be associated with Brittany Pierce and nothing short of ecstatic for her to represent us and the company in every endeavor she will have with us. She's one of a kind and we're honored to support her career in any way." Burt quips, mirroring his wife's smirk.

"But she lied! How can you-"

"That woman showed more integrity by telling everyone the truth and owning up to her faults than you stomping here in our home unannounced and behind her back." Carole snaps back as she stands up.

Burt smiles at his wife then gives Dani a hateful look. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Miss Harper. Good luck." He adds before walking away.

"That's too bad though. We were actually considering you for another syndication contract in the future but now I guess your luck's ran out and it's a shame we'll have to start looking all over again." Carole says with a look of regret for show. "Do show yourself out, Dani." She adds with a faux grin before following her husband and leaving Dani alone in their living room, sitting by the couch with her mouth wide open and mind full of genuine regret.

* * *

Blaine hurriedly stomps over to Will by the corner after hanging up on his phone. "What the hell was she doing back there?!" He whispers with a commanding tone.

Will shrugs and smiles at him. "Telling the truth, I presume."

Blaine breaks out into a smirk. "Well, tell her to keep up whatever she's doing because it's crazy back at the station right now!"

Will looks at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"For the past three minutes, every phone line back at the station has been going off the hook! We've gotten a boatload of positive responses from people offering sympathies, more than a dozen bouquets of flowers delivered to Brittany's office and still counting, overwhelming support coming from all over the city, and over two dozen marriage proposals! It's freaking amazing!"

Will goes wide-eyed on him albeit a bit distracted by a call coming from the other line for him. "Well, we don't have time for that now because Brittany's about to go on again." He adds and just in time, Brittany emerges from behind the curtains again and into the stage.

Brittany feared for the worst. She feared that she won't have a single audience when she comes out. She feared that maybe people would heckle her for deceiving them into believing such a big lie. She feared that she'll have to endure the next half hour with awkward stares and huffing from them.

Well, that's what she thought.

Upon coming out to the stage, she's greeted by silence and stares from the audience once again. But this time, one by one the audience members stand up and clap their hands. One by one they stand up and cheer for her, much to her surprise. From the various 'we still love you', 'that was so brave', 'we're proud of you', and a bunch more. It surprises her to see that everyone in the room is giving her a standing ovation and commending her for telling them the truth. And now more than ever, she feels that she's done the right thing.

All that's missing is Santana. If only Santana was here.

After a while of basking in the glow of their overwhelming support and trying not to cry from joy and sadness at the same time, she motions for them to settle down while mustering up a small smile. She eventually takes her place by the table and puts on her headphones, intent on having all her attention directed at the notepad with various notes in front of her.

"Alright. We've got an important caller from the other line, Brittany." Will utters from their connected line through the headphones and Brittany nods at him from across the room. "Three, two, one… and we're live!" Will exclaims and Brittany sighs as she decides to just concentrate on the voice while staring at the notepad in front of her while playing with the pen in her hand.

"Hello again, this is Brittany Pierce and you're still listening to Romantically Speaking, live from the Grand Hotel in New York City." She utters, pretending nothing major just happened. "Now, we have a caller from the other line who-" She cuts herself off, blanking out with not having enough details then ultimately just lets it go. "Well, they haven't said where they're from and who they are. So, hello?"

 _"Hey, Brittany."_

"Hi there. So, how can I help you?" Brittany utters nonchalantly.

 _"Well, you see. There's this girl that I've known almost my whole life and recently, we kind of fell out."_ The raspy voice trails off.

"Okay. What happened?"

* * *

"Ow, what the fuck?!" Santana exclaims when she trips over something she's not entirely sure of, almost making her fall face first. At least she had the brains to cover the receiver on her phone.

"Miss, are you okay?" A bellboy comes over to her but she puts a hand up to stop him from helping her as she recovers.

"Where the hell is the Dalton radio broadcast?"

The bellboy looks at him curiously then points westward. "Uh… Third floor, left most conference ro-"

"Thanks!" She exclaims before running towards the elevator but realizes just in time that she can't take it since she'll lose the signal. She takes a deep breath and gathers all the power in the world as she prepares to climb the fucking stairs beside the elevator. She puts the phone again to her ear, trying to sound calm as fuck while risking her life just to get to her destination.

The fucking things people do for love.

* * *

A slight static and few bumping sounds are heard from the other line, making Brittany and Will give each other a look for a few seconds before the voice is heard again. _"Well, we were both at fault. I guess we knew each other too much that we doubted the other without looking outside the box. We were looking too much into it instead of just letting our feelings take over us."_

Brittany's eyebrows furrow. "Alright then. So, what brought about this change of heart?"

 _"I guess I realized that I can't lose her. It took me a while to come to terms with it, actually. A bit of nudging from my friends. Even slapping."_ The caller pauses, or more like take a breath. _"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm hopelessly in love with her and I was so stupid to break her heart like that when she was already all out for me. But now, I'm ready. The thing I told her before about being hers still rings true. I really am all hers. I just hope she feels the same way."_

Brittany blinks a few times and breaks out into a grin, finally catching on. If Will's grin is any indication then she knows very well who's on the other line. "I think you know full well that she feels the same way. But don't you think you're asking too much of her after everything that's happened? That maybe she's afraid because you hurt her in the past?"

 _"I know it's a lot to ask for. I'm probably reaching for the heavens here. But I'm more than willing to make up for everything. I'll do everything I can to give her the world, just for her to believe in me that I'm dead serious about this. She can name it and pretty fu-"_ The caller cuts herself off then clears her throat while Brittany and the rest of the audience chuckles at the almost slip. _"…pretty sure that I'll have it at her doorstep the next minute."_

Brittany sighs and glances at everyone in the room to see them looking back at her with a grin, probably knowing who it was before she did. Regardless of all that's happened between them, she knows deep in her heart what the answer is without even thinking about it. She can fight all she wants but she can never deny anything because that's just how things are. That's how it's always been between them.

"Are you sure you want that?" Brittany replies unsurely.

"I do. So much." The caller pauses and this time the voice is somewhat clearer, nearer, and almost sounds like it's not coming from a phone. "You see, it's something that I've been holding back on all this time. Something I should have told her a while back instead of dancing around it. Do you think she'd want to hear it? Do you think she'll give me another chance?"

Brittany looks up just in time to see Santana behind the microphone placed in the middle of the room, trying to catch her breath but still looking stunning while staring back at her with determination she's never seen before.

"San…" The blonde utters, a bit breathless.

"So?" Santana only replies with a hopeful look at her.

The tension in the room is palpable. The audience hanging by a moment with the scene that's about to unfold while looking back and forth at both women.

Then, after much staring and waiting for what must have been forever for Santana, Brittany smiles at her.

"Of course. That's all I ever wanted. You're all I ever wanted, San." Brittany utters back and hears a few silent squeals from somewhere in the audience.

Santana grins and instead of saying anything else, runs over to the stage where Brittany stands up to greet her presence.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended that you weren't able to realize much earlier that it was me on the phone, Britt."

"Sorry about that. I was kind of caught up with something." Brittany teases as she removes her headphones. "You really like making an entrance, do you?" Santana shrugs, sporting a slight smirk while putting her hands around the blonde's waist.

"I want you to listen, okay?" Santana trails off with a worried look. "I love you, Brittany. So much. I really, really do. Can we start over again? Please." She adds with a frown etched on her forehead.

Brittany grins and puts a stray hair behind the brunette's ear. "I'd love to." She replies and Santana sighs with a wide grin. "And I love you too, San."

With everyone squealing and just visibly in love with the couple on stage, Will grins as he takes it upon himself to push a button in front of him while grabbing the nearby microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this has been Romantically Speaking with Brittany Pierce. Thank you for listening and we'll catch you again next week! And as Brittany Pierce said, your happiness is up to you!" He exclaims as the audience shouts with him the last bit of Brittany's catchphrase before removing them on air.

"No more publicity." Brittany whispers with both of their foreheads mashed together.

"No more publicity." Santana echoes and pulls Brittany closer to her. "I got you, babe." She adds before closing the gap between them with a kiss while the audience and generally everyone in the room takes to their feet falls into a thunderous applause.

* * *

 _"…your happiness is up to you!"_ Will's voice echoes in Quinn's hospital room.

It takes them a few seconds but they finally look at each other.

"So…" Quinn trails off with a smirk on her face while Puck, who's sitting beside her on the bed, could only shake his head as he fetches the wallet from his pocket.

"Yeah, yeah! A bet is a bet."

"I told you they'll end up together! I know them well! The touching, the sex eyes, the sex…" Quinn dramatically mutters.

"Well, at least I didn't bet higher than twenty bucks or otherwise we'd have to beg for money outside for our baby's milk and diapers." Puck jokes as he hands the money to Quinn who rolls her eyes and has her palm held out.

"Nice try, jacko. Another bet, another day."

Puck smirks. "So, how about we bet about the wedding day and babies…"

"I only accept bets of the same nature with stakes 50 bucks and above." Quinn comments sharply then erupts into laughter with her husband. "But yeah, let's make a bet about that…"

* * *

 **Thank you :)**

 ***No sequel on this. About 2/10 chance for an epilogue but don't hope too much about it, you'll just end up getting hurt. Haha.**

 **Like I promised, the LoA sequel we'll be right with you very, very soon :) Meanwhile, please enjoy yourself with Something Like Black Magic :D**

 **My tumblr for all your questions or just simple nothings at kpgleek13 :)**


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